Meeting Anna
by Mammps
Summary: Prequel to 'Just Anna' and 'Saving Anna'. Annabeth Kirk's journey through Starfleet Academy with her Vulcan roommate Spock. Join her as she meets new people and begins a friendship with Spock. But is friendship all it will ever be? Spock/OC. You don't need to have read Just Anna or Saving Anna to understand.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER - I OWN NONE OF THESE CHARACTERS, PLANETS OR LOCATIONS, EXCEPT FOR MY OC ANNA.**

**STARDATE**** 13th September 2249**

"James! James! You promised you'd see me off." Young eighteen year old Annabeth Kirk yelled up the stairs of their small house in Iowa. Her tone was annoyed, and her usually smiling face was spilled into a frown. Her blue eyes sad. Her long blond hair was tied up in a ponytail underneath her new cadet red hat. She was also dressed in her cadet reds. Her carryon bag, with a few sets of clothes in, was sat by her feet at the bottom of the stairs. She had to leave any moment and she had yet to say goodbye to her younger brother. She was only bothered about saying goodbye to him. He was the only one in this town that she cared about. Not Frank, her step-father or Dominic, the resident bully. No, only James.

She was finally fed up of waiting. She stormed up the stairs and straight into her brothers bedroom. He was lay there, fast asleep. She frowned. She wanted to say goodbye but she had always hated waking him up. She sighed and approached his bed. She sat down on the edge and nudged his shoulder. He stirred but didn't wake. She nudged him again and this time he did wake up. His tired eyes opened slowly and glanced over at her.

"I have to go soon James." she said softly. As much as she wanted to get angry with him for not waking up on his own to come and see her off, she had no idea how long it will be until she returns home and she didn't want to part ways on bad terms. She knew James didn't want her to leave. She knew that James hated the idea of her being part of Starfleet. He hated everything to do with Starfleet. To him it was responsible to taking away both their dad and their mom and now it was taking his sister.

"Do you really have to go?" James asked, looking up at her from where he was lying. He hadn't slept well that night. Knowing that this morning he would have to say goodbye to his sister and only true friend in Iowa.

"If you want to stay in a house away from Frank, I have to be able to afford it. And to be able to afford it I need a job." Anna told him softly.

James nodded. "I understand that but why not just get a job here, at home."

"Because I want to give you and my future children the best life possible and I can't on a shop owners wage or a waitress' wage. But with a Starfleet wage I can." Anna told him.

"You promised you would never leave me like Mom and Dad did" James said, his eyes sad.

"James, Dad didn't mean to leave us. He just did what he thought was right. And I'm not leaving you like Mom left us. I'll comm you however often you want me to. Everyday, if that's what you want. Just know that I'm not leaving you, I'm just trying to get an education that will get me a well paid job that can support us." Anna told him, reaching out to stroke his hair down.

Usually James would never allow his sister to stoke his hair down. He was sixteen after all but even he knew that she was doing the right thing, even if he didn't like it, and so he would never be able to come up with an argument good enough to convince her to stay. And besides he knew it had always been a secret dream of hers to be on board a Starfleet ship. He knew she had always wanted to follow Dad's footsteps and go into Starfleet. Who was he to stop that? He knew that if it was the other way around she would be encouraging him to do what he wanted to do.

"Okay. Just don't break your promise." James finally relented.

"I won't. I'll comm you tonight. We'll talk then. I have to go. Love you James." Anna said, standing. She leaned down and pressed a kiss to James' forehead. She could tell already that he was about to go back to sleep. He looked like he could fall asleep any minute.

"Bye Anna" James said, already half asleep.

"Goodbye James. I'll miss you. Try not to get into too much trouble." Anna replied, finally slipping out of James room.

She made her way downstairs, collected her bag and walked straight out of the front door. She knew if she didn't walk straight out she never would. Her mind was whirling into several different directions. Should she go? Was she being selfish by going to Starfleet and leaving James here with Uncle Frank? She knew the reason she had just gave James was only part the reason why she was going.

Her mind was whizzing through determination to go and regret for leaving as she walked the long way to where the shuttle would be leaving. It was still dark out. She had to leave several hours in advance so she could get to the shuttle on time.

By the time she arrived at the shuttle the sun was rising. Other cadets were already milling around, approaching the doors to the shuttle.

She took a deep breath and looked back towards where she had come from. This was it. Her last chance to back out. She thought of James. How much trouble would he get in while she's gone? What would he think if she backed out? Would he be happy or disappointed and guilty? Her mind turned to her Dad. Would he be disappointed if she backed out? Yes... No... Maybe.

"Having second thoughts?" a voice startled her. She quickly turned to look at who the voice belong to.

A commander by the looks of his uniform. _Must be who they sent to babysit us on the way_, Anna thought to herself. He had brown hair that was greying at his roots. His eyes sparkled with some sort of amusement.

She stood for a moment observing him before realising he had asked her a question. "Um no, sir. Just worried about my brother."

"Younger?" he asked.

She nodded. "He's sixteen. He doesn't really like the idea of me leaving." She told him honestly.

"Well, I suppose you'll just have to prove to him that you leaving is a good thing. Achieve at the academy and he'll realise that is where you were supposed to be." the man kindly said.

"Oh, he knows this is where I am meant to be. I think he's just scared of loosing me. Our Dad died on a Starfleet ship and our Mom practically abandoned us to go off planet every opportunity that she got." Anna told him, unsure about why she was opening up to him so much. He just had the sort of vibe that made her trust him and want to tell him.

"I see." He commented shortly. Obviously unsure about what to say in response. He suddenly jumped slightly before saying, "My apologies, I never introduced myself. I am Commander Pike."

He offered out his hand. Anna smiled before taking his hand. "Annabeth. Annabeth Kirk. But everybody calls me Anna."

"Kirk? Daughter of George Kirk?" Commander Pike asked.

Anna nodded. "Yes Sir."

"It's pleasure to meet you again Anna. It seems not that long ago when you were running about the Kelvin, and it was me always chasing after you." Commander Pike said with a large smile.

Anna smiled as well. "You were on board the Kelvin?"

"I was assigned the Kelvin in my final year of the Academy for my dissertation. George was a good friend of mine, even during my academy years." Commander Pike said.

"Well then, it's good to meet you Commander Pike." Anna replied with a smile.

"Now, we should get on board. I believe we are almost ready to go and we wouldn't want them to go without us now would we dear?" Commander Pike asked with a smirk on his face.

"No sir" Anna replied back with a smile as they both began to head for the shuttle.

Once on board Anna took a seat amongst the other cadets dressed in red while Commander Pike went up to the cockpit. As soon as he was sat down the pilot turned to the cadets and said, "Prepare for takeoff." The cockpit door closed cutting off the Commanders from the Cadets.

Anna looked around at the other cadets. They were all dressed in the Cadet reds and every single one of them looked smart in them. She noticed that other Cadets were doing the same as her, probably looking for somebody that they recognise. She tried to find somebody she recognised but it looked like she was going to be the only person from her end of Iowa. She sat back, half pleased, half upset. It would have been nice to already know somebody but she didn't really like anyone from back in Iowa so it wasn't necessarily a bad thing that she didn't know anyone already.

It took 3 hours to travel from Iowa to San Francisco in the shuttle and when the shuttle finally docked every single Cadet was a mixture of nerves and relief. Everyone was nervous about the beginning of their Starfleet career but relieved to be finally able to get out of the uncomfortable shuttle seats.

Anna waited until all the other Cadets had gone before leaving her seat herself and exiting the shuttle to follow the Commanders. The two Commanders that were with them, Commander Pike and a female Commander lead the cadets into a hall room. At the front were five tables with Commanders behind them. Above the tables, so everybody could see it, were five signs that had parts of the alphabet. For example the first read " A - D ". The room was already filled with people queuing, obviously from other shuttles that arrived before they did.

"Please queue in the queue based on the first letter in your second name. Here you will receive your personal pad with your room allocation and class schedule." shouted the female Commander.

The group of cadets from Iowa quickly split. Anna joined her queue "K - Q". She waited a good half hour in the queue before she reached the desk.

"Name?" asked the Commander at the desk.

"Kirk. Annabeth Kirk" Anna replied.

The commander searched through the pile of padds before picking one out and handing it over to her.

"Thank you" Anna said before moving away quickly and toward the exit of the room. She opened up her padd and wondered where they kept the room information. She opened up the documents app and instantly found the document named 'Room Allocation'. Because she was focusing on the padd, she therefore wasn't focussing on where she was going so it wasn't surprising when as she exited the door to go outside she ran head first into someone else. She dropped her padd and fell back on her bum. The person who she had bumped into knelt down and picked up her padd before standing back up at the same time she did.

She looked over who she bumped into. He was tall and lean. He was pale with a tint of a green colour to his skin. She knew instantly that he wasn't human, or at least fully human. It wasn't until she saw his face that she recognised what he was. The pointed ears and the slanted eyebrows told her that he was a Vulcan but his eyes looked almost human. Not that Anna had seen many Vulcans to compare his eyes to. For all she knew they could very well be Vulcan eyes.

She cleared her throat awkwardly, aware that while she was studying him, he had also been studying her. "My apologies. I wasn't looking were I was going." She said awkwardly.

"That is quite alright. I was also neglecting simple eye functions" he replied, holding out her Padd for her to take back.

Yep, definitely a Vulcan, she thought to herself as she took her Padd back from him.

"Well... um thanks for picking up my padd... and um I apologise again for running into you" Anna stammered out awkwardly shifted from foot to foot.

"Your apology is unnecessary. You have apologised once. And I do not remember you running." The Vulcan replied, obviously not understanding the phrase 'running into you'.

"Oh. Um. It's a figure of speech that's used instead of 'I collided with you'" Anna explained to him.

"Interesting" was his only reply.

"Well anyway, I'm Annabeth Kirk but call me Anna. It's nice to meet you" Anna said to him, excited about the prospect of a new friend, even if it is with a Vulcan. She didn't however offer out her hand for a handshake because she could remember reading that Vulcan's have a touch telepathy and therefore do not like shaking hands as an introduction.

"I am Spock" The Vulcan, Spock, nodded to her in greeting.

"What's your focus?" Anna asked him curious.

"Computer programming with minors in Phonology and interspecies ethics" Spock replied, well aware that the three subject that he just said were not usually placed together.

Anna also recognised the fact that they were not usually placed together. Phonology and interspecies ethics maybe but not computer programming. Then again she couldn't really talk. It was hard to put her three together as well.

"That's interesting. I'm focussing on survival strategies and tactical analysis, with minors in Combat and xenolinguistics." she replied.

Anna noticed that Spock looked over into the room that she had just left and the fact that he didn't have his own padd yet.

"Oh, you need to get your padd. Sorry to keep you talking. I better let you get your padd. Maybe I'll see you around at some point." Anna said, smiling kindly.

"Indeed." Spock replied.

"See you later Spock" Anna waved as she left, leaving Spock stood by the doors.

It didn't take long for Anna to find her assigned room. MG649. Room 649 in the Mathew Grant building, named after an Admiral that died the year that this building was built. Anna entered the personal code that she had on her padd into the keypad by the door. The door opened. She walked into the dorm room. There were two double beds. Underneath the beds were boxes for storage and beside the beds were bedside tables, one per bed, which had on them an alarm clock and lamp. On the wall opposite each bed was a desk. Anna sighed before claiming the bed furthest away from the door by placing her bag on top. She looked at her padd again to see whether it said anything about her roommate. Nothing. It didn't mention anything about her roommate. She would just have to wait and see.

As she waited nervously she began unpacking her bag. She only had a few spare sets of the Cadet reds, a few pairs of clothes, one set of bed sheets, duvets and pillow cases, her essentials and two photographs. One photo was of her and her Dad, and the other was of her and James that she took two years before when she finished high school two years in advance. She couldn't really fit anything else in her bag. She put her two photos up on to the shelf above her bed and then unpacked her cadet reds into one box under the bed, and her ordinary clothes in the other. Her essentials she put in the single draw that was on the bedside table. She made her bed with her blue duvet cover that James picked out for her. He said it matched her eyes. It was a light blue with a dark blue pattern. The pattern was a flower stem that travelled down the bed and that bursts into flowers near the bottom of the bed.

Her padd beeped and the screen flashed. Anna had a look to see that Commander Pike had messaged her.

**MESSAGE**

**FROM** COMMANDER PIKE, CHRISTOPHER

**TO **CADET KIRK, ANNABETH

_Annabeth_

_I am to be your personal advisor for the next four years while you are a cadet. At the moment it says in your timetable that it is Commander Barnett and you are meet him tomorrow morning at 0900 hours. However this will be updated soon. You will meeting me in my office, tomorrow at 0900 hours._

_Hope you settle in well._

_Commander Pike_

Annabeth smiled and placed her padd down. She definitely liked the idea of having Commander pike as her personal advisor for the next four years. At least she knew him and he knows her.

She was about to flop on her bed and relax when the door chimed and then opened. Annabeth was shocked to see Spock at the door. After all she could have sworn that the academy don't offer co-ed rooms. It's supposed to be girls share with girls and boys share with boys.

"Spock?" Anna questioned, "Have you been assigned to this room?"

"According to my padd, yes. However there must be a mistake in our assignment." Spock replied.

Anna nodded. "Obviously. I'll message Commander Pike. See what he says."

**MESSAGE**

**FROM** CADETKIRK, ANNABETH

**TO** COMMANDER PIKE, CHRISTOPHER

_Hi Commander Pike_

_I've just met my roommate and we both agree there must have been a mistake with the assignment of rooms. My roommate appears to be a male. Who should we speak to to get his resolved?_

_Please reply soon and thanks._

_Annabeth Kirk_

Anna looked up at Spock to find that he had moved to look over her shoulder. She raised an eyebrow at how close he was. She could feel the heat coming off his body he was that close. Spock took a step back.

"So while we've got some time to kill, lets talk." Anna said cheerfully,

"I do not believe it is possible to _kill_ time" Spock replied "Time is a figurative element."

"'kill time' is another terran phrase. It means there is a period of time that you need to get through. For example right now I say time to kill because I want the time to go fast till when we receive a reply so we should do something." Anna replied to him. Anna suddenly had a feeling that she would be explaining a lot of her terms and phrases to him over the next four years and she could tell that like this explanation some of them will not be an easy thing to explain.

"I understand. " he replied but said nothing else.

Anna frowned with the lack of conversation. "Okay, um how about we get to know each other? or we could set some ground rules. I mean at the moment we have no idea if Commander Pike will be able to sort out this room issue so we should set some ground rules."

"Ground rules? Explain." Spock demanded.

Anna frowned a bit more at the rudeness of just saying the word explain with no please on the end but explained anyway. "Well when I say ground rules I mean rules that are between us, to do with this room, that we set out and absolutely must follow. For example as we are obviously different genders we will have to work out some sort format for getting changed because I am not getting changed in front of you nor will I attempt to changed under my duvet. I'm sure you will also be uncomfortable getting changed in front of me."

"I am a Vulcan. I do not get uncomfortable" Spock said firmly.

Anna raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Okay well I'd be uncomfortable with you getting changed in front of me."

"Is it not part of the Terran culture for a male and female to get changed in front of each other? Many of the Terran males on the shuttle I boarded were discussing losing their clothes in front of a woman." Spock commented.

"Spock!" Anna groaned. "No, the only time a woman will lose a part of the clothes in front of a male is if they're in a relationship with them or about to have _sex_ with them."

Anna's face blushed at the topic. She had never had much experience with love and lust but discussing it with Spock was awkward because he was 1) a guy, 2) a Vulcan that supposedly had no emotion and 3) she could not deny that Spock was anything less than good looking. Spock's face showed no reaction, however Anna could see that the tips of his ears appeared slightly more green than they had before. She smiled shyly. So it had affected him in some way.

"Do you understand now why I would be uncomfortable?" Anna asked him.

"Indeed." He replied.

Anna's padd beeped but this time it didn't just beep once but kept beeping. She looked at it and saw that Commander Pike was trying to Comm her. She answered.

"Commander Pike. You have good news I hope" She said with a smile.

His answering frown and sigh deflated her smile. "I'm afraid not Anna. Is your roommate there with you, um Cadet Spock?"

"Yes, he's here. He can hear you." She replied.

"After I received your message I commed the accommodations office. There wasn't a mistake with your room allocation. There was a full intake on cadets this year and an odd number of males and females. You and Cadet Spock where just the male and female that ended up being paired with one another. For now you will have to share a room, however there may be a no show or a drop out and if there is I shall see to it that you are the first to receive notice of a free bed." Commander Pike told her.

"Well, thank you Commander. I'm sure Spock and I will work something out." Anna replied with a small smile.

"Ever the optimist. I shall see you tomorrow for your personal advisors meeting." Commander Pike said smiling at her.

"Okay. Bye Commander." Anna said.

"Good bye Anna" he replied before shutting off the comm.

Anna turned to Spock and said, "Looks like we're stuck together Spock"

"Indeed." Spock replied.

"Do you always reply with one word answers?" Anna asked with a mischievous sparkle in her eye and a teasing tone.

"Unclear"


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER - I OWN NONE OF THESE CHARACTERS, PLANETS OR LOCATIONS, EXCEPT FOR MY OC ANNA.**

**STARDATE**** 14th September 2249**

Today was the day that Anna's Starfleet education officially began. She was interested to see what the Academy had to offer. So far she had managed to make two friends, one being a commanding officer, Commander Pike, and the other was her roommate, Spock, at least she hoped she could consider him a friend. She was unsure about where she stood with him.

The previous night, the first night at the Academy, had been awkward for Anna. A majority of it had been spent in silence. They had however managed to agree that if Anna was to comm her brother, James, she would comm him in the early evening so Spock could meditate in the late evening and into the night.

James was a bit more lively last night then what he was when Anna had last spoke to him that morning. Anna decided that it was probably wise to not tell him about her roommate predicament. Even though she was the older sibling he is still very protective with it comes to Anna and if he found out she was sharing a room with a guy she could be sure that he would threaten Spock. As funny as that would be to Anna she felt that it was probably best not to let that happen. She wanted to be friends with Spock after all.

It was Spock that woke Anna in the morning and not her alarm clock. He apparently had an internal alarm clock that woke him once he had had enough sleep.

Anna complained. "There is no way that five hours is enough sleep. It's only four in the morning."

"Vulcans do not require as much sleep as human do. Five hours is more than enough hours of sleep for me." Spock replied as he turned on his bedside light.

"Well, please keep it down. I still want to sleep. Five hours is nowhere near enough for me." commented Anna cuddling down into her duvet so it covered her head.

Anna eventually fell back to sleep with her head outside of the duvet but faced towards the wall instead of towards where Spock was now sat meditating. She woke again when her alarm went off. She groaned reaching over and turning it off before flopping back down in her bed. She felt very tired.

"Is it typical for a human to ignore their alarm?" Spock asked.

Anna groaned noiselessly and sat up looking over at Spock who was looking over at her in interest.

"Sometimes, yes. We have a snooze button so it'll re-wake us after a few minutes so it's okay to snooze for a few more minutes." Anna replied.

"Interesting" Spock replied.

"How about you try a new word? Try 'Fascinating'" Anna asked with a yawn.

Spock didn't reply and for a minute Anna wondered whether she had offended him when he finally spoke again.

"You may use the shower first. I do not have my personal advisor meeting until ten hundred hours." Spock said.

"Um... thanks" replied Anna collecting up the stuff she would need for a shower. She was so glad the academy supplied three towels per a person in the apartment because she hadn't been able to pack any of her own.

"Your apology is unnecessary and illogical. I have neither benefited you nor denied myself benefit" Spock commented before the room went silent.

Anna just rolled her eyes at his response and stepped into the bathroom that is connected to their room. She quickly showered, had a wash and changed into her clothes before drying her hair.

When she stepped out Spock was still in his meditation pose.

"How old are you Spock?" Anna asked. She wasn't quite sure where the question came from but it was something she wished to know.

"I was born in 2230" Spock replied.

"So you're 19?" Anna asked curious. She could have sworn he would be older. She knew Vulcans had a longer life span than humans so she wondered whether they physically aged any different.

"Yes" Spock replied.

"Oh! okay. Um, anyway I better go. Don't want to be late for my meeting with Commander Pike. Have a good day Spock" Anna said, quick to get away from the room that had quickly grown too awkward to remain in.

"You too... Anna" Spock replied before Anna slipped out of the room.

Anna took a deep breath in. It was the first time Spock had actually said her name and it made good chills run up and down her spine. She swore in her head. Why did that effect her so much? It was just Spock saying her name. She almost ran out of the room, down the corridor and out of the building.

She found Commander Pike's office easily. It was amongst the other offices. She knocked on the door and only entered when she heard Pike call out for her to.

Pike was sat behind his desk. He had a padd in front of him. He looked up briefly when Anna entered but quickly returned his attention to the padd. He waved his hand out towards the chair in front of his desk.

"Take a seat Anna" he said kindly.

Anna slipped into the chair and took her own padd out and placed it on her lap ready to take notes of important things he says and any tips that he gives.

After a few minutes of just sitting in silence twiddling her thumbs, Pike looked up at her and met her eyes.

"You know with the surname of Kirk people are going to expect big things from you." he commented.

"I am aware sir and I intend to live up to their expectations and beyond" Anna replied both honestly and because she knew that is exactly what he wanted to hear.

Commander Pike smiled at her. "So, you're not worried about the pressure?"

"Should I be sir? As far as I am concerned I shall work at 110%. To the best of my ability. If that isn't good enough for them then tough, I haven't let myself down because I have done the best I can. The only time I should be worried is when I let myself down by not trying hard enough." Anna told him. "Besides I believe I will be able to live up to their expectations."

He nodded appreciatively. "And how is your room in accommodation and your male roommate?"

"He's alright. We seem to have come to agreements on some things, others we still have to discuss. Expect from the big difference in sleeping patterns we should be pretty compatible. After all he is very logical. I feel that I will be almost like his emotion and he my logical logic." Anna replied with a smile.

"So he's quite serious. That's rare in males." chuckled Pike.

"But not in Vulcans." Anna objected. "Spock, my roommate, is Vulcan."

Pike's eyes widened. "Ah, I see. Then yes perhaps your theory of emotion and logic is probably correct. Are you sure you will be alright in that room?"

"Of course sir. Spock is fine. And I thought there wasn't anything I could do about it anyway." replied Anna.

Pike shook his head. "I looked this morning. It's the first year where we haven't had a no show. All the rooms are still full"

Anna nodded and shrugged her shoulder, "Oh well, me and Spock will live. I'm sure we can cope one year."

Commander Pike chuckled. "Of course. Now down to business. Your schedule says your majoring in Survival Strategies and Tactical Analysis , and minoring in Combat and Xenolinguistics. Is that correct?"

Anna nodded, "Yes, sir. That's correct."

"And am I to presume by this you wish to take the command path?" Commander Pike asked with an assuming tone.

"Yes, sir. I'm aiming for First Tactical Officer but if I get offered a First Officer position or Captainship and I've earned it then I wouldn't say no." replied Anna with a smile on her face.

Commander Pike nodded. "I do have one query about your chosen subjects. Normally I wouldn't allow a student on the command path to do Xenolinguistics when they could be doing another command course but I'm sure you are about to convince me otherwise."

Anna could pick up a hint when she was given one. She nodded and began her defence for her chosen subject, "As far as I can see it sir I am taking survival strategies and tactical analysis, what sort of Tactical officer would I be if I was stumped by languages. On board a Starship I would not only be working with people of other languages but I will also be dealing with enemies that speak different languages. Knowing an enemy's language will give me more of a tactical advantage to be able to make a tactical decision than knowing the names of previous Captains and what they've done. Knowing their language I will be able to understand what they're saying, and as a tactical officer not communications officer they wouldn't know I could understand them, giving me an advantage over them"

Anna looked to Commander Pike to see his reaction to what she had said. He just nodded without an emotion on his face. This worried Anna. Had she said the wrong thing. Was her argument not good enough or not justified enough.

"I think you have me convinced. I hope you don't mind if I use that explanation if the Admirals pull me up on why I'm allowing you to take the subject." Commander Pike suddenly replied.

Anna's smiled returned. She wondered whether he had just made her wait to make her purposely nervous. "Thank you sir"

He nodded. "Okay, so you've been put in for four classes for your major. Tactical Analysis. This is the theory of tactics, you'll study previous tactics used by previous Captains, First Officers and Tactical Officers. You'll find that most in the Command class take this course... Advanced Tactics. This is primarily for those, like you, that wish to focus on Tactics more than Command. This is more of a practical based subject in the holo room with plenty of practical simulations... Survival strategies is an interesting class, again containing most of the Command path. You'll have two big simulations in each year for your first two years, in the second two years you have one big simulation and one on-location survival mission per year. In between those simulations and missions are classes of active survival, teaching you how to survive in all sorts of weather, conditions and environments... Finally, there's basic command. Anybody on a space ship may be asked to take the conn and act as acting Captain. All people of Command track are required to take this class. You'll learn how to take command of a vessel. Is that all clear?"

Anna nodded, her eyes not leaving her padd, on which she had been taking notes on what he was saying. She couldn't wait to get started on his lessons. They sounded fantastic, especially the survival strategies and Advanced Tactics. "Yes sir"

"Good, now for your minors, you have your Basic Hand to Hand class. This class is pretty self explanatory. It's hand to hand fighting. You've also been placed in a Basic Weapons class. In here you'll learn the basics on not only weapons used by the Federation but weapons used and know by others. Finally you have your Basic Xenolinguistics, where you'll learn different languages. You'll probably be the only person on the Command track in that class." Commander Pike explained, giving Anna a glance on the last statement.

Anna just nodded in understanding with a small smile on her face. She wasn't going to let the prospect of a class of up-and-coming communications officers scare her away from getting a tactical advantage over her future enemies. "I understand sir"

"Good. I'd better let you go. I have another Cadet at 0930. Enjoy the rest of your day." Commander Pike said, effectively dismissing her.

Anna nodded while placing her padd in her bag. "You too Commander"

Anna stood and left the room. Another Cadet in cadet reds was stood outside the office. As Anna looked down the office she could see many of the office doors had Cadets waiting outside of them. Anna nodded to the female cadet stood outside Commander Pike's door before carrying on walking out of the building. She had about an hour and a half until her first lecture of the day and her academy career.

1100 hours.

Anna stood among the other first year cadets outside of their Tactical Analysis class. Anna noticed that the same girl who had been waiting outside of Commander Pike's office was also stood among them. As the girl was stood alone as well as Anna, Anna decided to go over.

"Hi, I'm Anna. You have Commander Pike as an advisor as well?" Anna asked to begin the conversation.

"Um, yeah. My names Hanalee." replied the girl, Hanalee.

"It's nice to meet you, is this your focus?" Anna asked her with a smile.

Hanalee shook her head slightly, "No, I'm focussing on piloting. This is a minor for me. I want to become a helmsman. What about you?"

"I'm majoring in this. I want to be a Tactical Officer." Anna replied.

At that point the professor arrived and let them into the room. Anna and Hanalee walked in together and found two seat together towards the black of the class. Anna looked around and found that the girls were slightly outnumbered in this class. The professor of the class stood at the front. He walked with a walking stick and his hair was grey. Anna guessed he was about fifty or sixty years old. He was wearing a traditional Commander uniform.

He cleared his throat to catch the attention of the class and almost immediately the eyes of every Cadet was on him. The screen behind him loaded up and soon had the words 'Tactical Analysis' and 'Professor Harris'.

"Welcome Cadets. I am Professor Harris and I am the leading instructor is Tactical analysis and Advanced Tactics. This Academic year you will be learning about the class A tactics that have saved the lives of hundreds. You will learn about the simple tactics and the outstanding tactics and the unbelievable tactics. Tactics used by Captains, First Officers, Tactical Officers, Helmsmen, and Security Officers." began Professor Harris. "Today, we shall begin by looking into one of the more famous tactics, the sacrifice of the USS Kelvin."

As soon as the name of the ship came out of Professor Harris' mouth Anna knew she wasn't going to enjoy this particular lecture of this class. Knowing that her father had died on the USS Kelvin was something everybody expected from her, remembering the moments of that day was what haunted her. The last thing she wanted was to know the details that Starfleet knew and she didn't.

"Can anybody tell me the year that the USS Kelvin was destroyed?" Professor Harris asked the group.

Most of the people raised their hands, including Hanalee. Professor Harris pointed towards Hanalee.

"2233 sir" Hanalee replied.

"Yes. 2233. The USS Kelvin was scouting the edge of the neutral zone. Can anybody tell me what happened next?" asked Professor Harris.

Anna sighed and raised her hand when nobody else did. Professor Harris pointed at Anna.

"The USS Kelvin came across a lightning storm in space, and out of it came a Romulan ship. They fired upon the Kelvin and in a lull of fire, the Captain of the Kelvin travelled across in a shuttle promoting his first Officer, George Kirk, to Captain. However the Romulan ship again fired on the Kelvin, leaving it practically defenceless and without any other options except to evacuate, which they did, however George Kirk remained behind and piloted the ship into the Romulan ship which saved the escape shuttles from the Romulan ship." Anna described. It was scary to her how much she could remember. Some of it she could remember from her own personal witness, but things like the Captain going over to the other ship she read about when she was little.

"Very good Cadet..." Professor Harris began, leaving the end open for Anna to fill in.

Anna sighed before replying, "Kirk, Annabeth Kirk. Sir."

Professor Harris seemed to be shocked and whispers seemed to break out amongst the class.

Anna could feel the stares from her classmates as they whispered. It was probably the worst time for people to learn who she was.

"You were onboard the Kelvin weren't you?" Professor Harris said, finally coming out of his shock.

Anna stared the professor right in the eye. "Yes, sir. I was. I was in the medical bay with my mother. We escaped on the shuttle, and yes I remember every bit of that day. If it is just the Kelvin that we are discussing in this lecture, may I be excused?"

Professor stared dumbly at her for a moment before nodding. "I had only planned to discuss the Kelvin, yes. You may be excused Cadet."

"Thank you sir." Anna said, rather quietly packing away her things and heading out.

She felt a little disappointed in herself that she wasn't able to sit through her first lecture. She made her way back to her dorm room. It was only 1130, she had until 1400 till her next lecture which was Advanced Tactics. All she could think was that she hoped that her second lecture would be better than her first.

As she entered her dorm room she noticed Spock was sat at his desk, typing something up on his Padd. She wondered whether to say hi or to just leave him to it. In the end, she didn't have to made that decision.

"You are back early." Spock commented, not even looking at his Padd.

"I'm not even ask how you knew that but yes, I was excused from the lecture" replied Anna, dumping her bag on her bed before taking a seat next to it on the bed.

"From your first lecture, that is most peculiar." commented Spock.

Anna saw that Spock was now looking over at her as she replied, "The lecture was personal to me. I was given permission by the lecturer to leave"

"Personal? How?" Spock asked.

"The tactic we would be studying today was going to be my Dad's death. Surely even you can understand why I wouldn't want to remain in that lecture." Anna told him.

Spock never replied. Anna wondered if silence was always his answer when it came to a question or comment he didn't want to reply to. If so, the next four years were going to be interesting. Anna had the tendency to talk more if she was uncomfortable and it seemed Spock was completely the opposite.

"Do you not have a lecture today?" Anna asked him.

"I have a Systems and Hardware lecture at 1400 hours" Spock replied before going silent again.

Anna nodded before realising that this conversation was practically done. She fished out her padd and began looking into the Vulcan Culture. She realised that if she was going to be able to survive living with Spock, she was going to need to know more about his culture.

1400 hours. Advanced Tactics.

Thankfully for Anna, her Advanced Tactics class was far better than her first. They went almost straight into a simulation. It was essentially a large 3D chess game between two people of the class. Professor Harris, who was also the professor for this class, said it was a good way for him to gage the type of tactics people preferred, whether they seemed to prefer defensive tactics or offensive. Anna was glad at the end of her turn that Professor Harris had said in her end of simulation evaluation that 'she was using the perfect mix of defensive and offensive techniques'. She played mostly defensive until her offensive opponent left an opening which is when she began to attack. She was happy enough when she won her match of Chess, even happier after receiving her feedback.

She felt like whatever weak opinion people had gotten off of her from the first lecture that morning had hopefully been changed for the people who were in her Advanced Tactics class.

She didn't necessarily talk to many people during the class. She was little disappointed to see that Hanalee wasn't in the class, but then she wasn't really surprised as Tactics had only been a minor for Hanalee.

At exactly 1600 hours, the class was dismissed. Anna quickly made her way to her Basic Weaponry class. She was both excited and slightly intimidated by this class. After all they were dealing with weapons, which to her was the perfect explanation for her nerves.

The class were still waiting outside when she reached the door. She spotted two people that been in her class that morning who hadn't been her second class staring, whispering and pointing. It was a group of lads that they were whispering to. One of the lads who were stood with them, turned to face her and smiled. His smile caused small dimples in his cheeks, which contrasted to his rather bulked up body and stance. Anna smiled back hesitantly. He left the group he had been stood with and walked over to where she was stood. He leant against the wall she was standing near, facing towards her.

"You Annabeth Kirk?" he asked.

She nodded, half hesitantly. "That's me. But just call me Anna."

He nodded. "Jack. Jack Mateo."

"Nice to meet you Jack" she said, her lips parting in a greeting smile.

"So, what you focussing in?" He asked.

"Survival Strategies and Tactic Analysis. You?" Anna replied.

"Combat and security" he replied with a cocky smile that reminded her far too much of the one that James usually wore when he was sure he had impressed a girl.

Anna nodded noncommittally before glancing round for any sign of the professor that would be teaching the class.

"So tactics, cunning or winging it?" Jack asked.

Anna looked at him with a raised eyebrow before replying in what was obviously a 'not impressed' tone. "Only cocky lads 'wing' it. Tactical officers use cunning"

Jack laughed, unaffected by her tone. "So Cunning. Thought so. How about you try winging it for once? how 'bout with a date?"

"A date? you mean with you? ha, I'd rather go a date with a Vulcan." Anna replied with a short laugh.

Again Jack just laughed her off, which was starting to confuse Anna. How could he just keep laughing her off like that? Most lads back in Iowa backed off after the second bite back. She had to give him credit for being persistent. "Yeah, I can see the appeal. Tall, strong, totally logical. Sound's a bit like me."

"Add cocky to the list and then you've got you" Anna commented with a sly smile.

"Ouch, you wound me" Jack said sarcastically, putting a hand to his heart and a fake frown on his face.

The act put a smile onto Anna's face. He was funny.

"Ah, I got you to smile. I think that deserves a date." Jack said with a smile, pointing to the smile that had come onto Anna's face.

Anna shook her head, not bothering to remove her smile. "Not even close."

The professor turned up before Jack could speak with her again. In that class they were only been instructed on what the professor expected from them and how they would behave. He did a quick run through of some of the weapons that they would be learning about before Christmas before dismissing them exactly on 1700 hours.

Anna was one of the first out of the room, having been sat at the back, and she wasn't quite sure what to think when Jack managed to come up beside her as she was leaving.

"So it's a 'no' on that date?" asked Jack with a mischievous smile.

"Yes" replied Anna shortly, speeding up slightly.

"So it's a 'yes'?" adjusted Jack with a cheeky smile.

"No" replied Anna, a bit more forcefully then what she had meant to.

"Alright, alright. It's a 'no', for now. I will get that date from you though, before Christmas." Jack said.

Anna didn't reply to that. She knew he wouldn't shut up if she did. "Goodbye Jack" she said to him before speeding up even more, disappearing into the crowd of people outside the building.

When she made it back up to her room, she noticed Spock was cooking in the kitchen, on the hob.

"Are you familiar with the dish Spaghetti hoops?"

Spock's questioned caught her of guard. She wasn't expecting him to speak and she definitely wasn't expecting that question. _Spaghetti hoops?_

"Um, yes. Why?" She asked back, her tone confused.

"Upon speaking to a class mate about the cuisine of Terran they mentioned the dish of Spaghetti hoops was eatable. I acquired some for the both of us as I had noticed neither of us have eaten today." Spock replied.

Anna was shocked for a moment. He had gotten her food. She smiled, "Thank you Spock, that's very thoughtful of you."

"It was logical to procure food. I was under the impression that humans require decent amounts of food and I did not see you eat in the morning." Commented Spock.

Anna nodded. She was hungry. She hadn't eaten anything yet that day. "Well, thank you anyway."

"Your thanks is illogical" Spock commented.

"Actually you've benefitted me as I know do not have to cook for myself so my thanks are logical" Anna argued with a smile.

Spock glanced at her. "Indeed"


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER - I OWN NONE OF THESE CHARACTERS, PLANETS OR LOCATIONS, EXCEPT FOR MY OC ANNA.**

**STARDATE** 31st October 2249

Anna had settled in at the Academy well. Her and Spock had finally managed to pull together a routine. Spock would wake in the morning but quietly, allowing Anna to remain sleeping. Anna would shower first, then Spock. They would eat breakfast separately, go to their lectures and not see each other again until they returned unless they had the two classes that they shared, 'Xenolinguistics' and 'Basic Command'. For dinner they would take turns ordering food for each other on the replicator, or making the food themselves. Anna had been very interested when she had came back one day to find a modified version of a Vulcan dish waiting for her.

Anna's knowledge on the Vulcan culture was getting larger, not just from reading up on it, but she often quizzed Spock on it as well. She was interested knowing about Spock's culture. He had quickly picked up on her interest and was slowly introducing more things to her, including some of his own language, even though it will be covered in their Xenolinguistics class. Anna could say and understand a few sentences in Vulcan. In return Anna had been coaching Spock on the colloquiums and common phrases that humans used. She had also been explaining some her cultural aspects, mostly to do with illogical decisions.

Anna's friendship with Hanalee was also growing stronger. They only shared one class but they met up often in the library to work on the assessments and research projects that they were given from the class. She and Hanalee worked well together as they were both very independent women that were seriously lacking any female contact in their lives. They provided each other with a woman to stress with about the male idiots that they called their friends.

Jack. Jack was somebody that Anna just couldn't put a tag on. She couldn't call him a friend exactly, especially as every single time he is in her presence he is trying to get her to agree to a time and place for a date, which as long as Anna is concerned is never going to happen. She only shared two classes with him, which were her Basic Weaponry, which she had to admit he was better at, and her Hand to Hand combat, which she was better at. They turned both of their classes into a small competition between them. They always paired together in hand to hand combat which usually results in Jack landing on the mat with a wounded ego.

Today was the 31st October. Halloween. It was also a Sunday. Anna was up earlier than what she was usually on a Sunday. She had a feeling she surprised Spock with her early rising. She ate her breakfast and washed and changed. She then placed an order into the replicator. Pumpkins. Two pumpkins to be exact.

"Spock, come here, time to teach you about another Terran tradition." Anna called, from her spot in the kitchen, over to Spock.

Spock looked over to her from her meditation spot with a raised eyebrow. She just rolled her eyes and waved him over. "Come here. This is one of the best traditions."

Spock did the closest thing to a sigh before standing and approaching Anna. He stood beside her in the kitchen and looked down at the two pumpkins in front of them. He looked back to Anna for explanation, his eyebrow raised.

"Okay, so today is Halloween. Halloween is based on an old folklaw, a myth, that on this day, during the night the barrier between the good and evil is weakened and evil can get through the barrier for one night. Evil being witches, zombies, ghosts, monsters ect. And so what people do is they dress up as monsters themselves to drive the monsters away. And those that don't dress up, carve a face into pumpkins to scare the monsters away. People don't really believe the myth any more but the tradition to dress up and carving into a pumpkin is still done." explained Anna, a smile on her face as she explained the tradition to Spock. "Do you get it?"

Spock nodded.

"Good. I've got us two pumpkins, one each so we can carve into them. Now, you don't have to carve a face, you can carve anything but faces are most common. But before we do that we'll have to empty it out. Get rid of the pips, but keep the rest of it and I'll use it to make a pumpkin pie." Anna told him handing him a knife and a spoon.

Anna cut the top off of her pumpkin. Spock followed what she did, removing the top from his pumpkin. "Keep hold of that. You'll need that to place back on top when we're done."

Both Anna and Spock then turned to scooping out the pumpkin. Seeds were placed into a small bowl in the centre. The rest of the what they scooped out went into a bigger bowl that was beside the pip bowl.

When Anna deemed that both pumpkins were empty enough she took both spoons and placed them in the sink. "Okay, now you carve. Normally when you carve into a pumpkin you carve right through. The reason for this is that you put candles in the middle and when the candle burns the light reflects outwards. It makes the pumpkins look scarier."

Spock nodded and began carving, turning his pumpkin slight away from Anna's sight. Anna carved in a clown face into her pumpkin. She had two diamond holes for the eyes but scratched halfway in, a line up from the eye and another down, like how clowns sometimes had their eye makeup. She carved half in for some cheeks as well, big circular circles for the cheeks. Finally she used the traditional pumpkin mouth and teeth style but made the smile twitch up on the left hand side into a scary half smile.

Anna tried to glance at Spock's but he had turned it so much she couldn't see the design that he was using. She took a pair of candles from a kitchen draw and box of matches from another. She placed one candle beside Spock's pumpkin before placing the other into the middle of hers. She lit a match and lit the candle. She placed the pumpkin lid back on the pumpkin and stepped back to admire her hard work.

She noticed Spock was now putting in his candle before lighting it with a match and placing the lid of the pumpkin on it, just as Anna had done. He glanced up and spotted Anna looking curiously towards his pumpkin. He turned the pumpkin to face Anna. Anna gasped.

"Is it not acceptable?" Spock asked her.

"Not acceptable? are you kidding Spock, its brilliant. I didn't know you were an artist" exclaimed Anna.

Spock had etched on a Vulcan face. He had placed holes for the eyes, some for the nostrils and one thin line on the mouth. Everything else was perfectly sketched into the pumpkin. The hair, the contours of the face, the nose stuck out, the lips and the angled chin.

"You do in fact find it acceptable?" asked Spock.

"Yes. I do, Spock. It is really good." replied Anna, glancing between Spock and his pumpkin.

"Do the pumpkins remain on the table?" Spock asked.

"No, back home James and I put them on the front porch, but I wouldn't put them out at the Academy. I'm not quite sure how the other cadets would react around them. I wouldn't want to risk them wrecking them" Anna told him. "I think putting them on our desks should do, and then I can start cooking the pumpkin pie. It should be ready in time for dinner."

Spock nodded as they took their pumpkins and placed them carefully on their desks, starring quite scarily towards their beds. Anna returned to the kitchen and replicated the ingredients needed to make a pumpkin pie before beginning the process. She was just about to place it in the oven when the lights went out and seemingly all power fluttered out.

The only light that remained where the lights from the candles in the pumpkins and that wasn't much.

"Spock, would you might if you lit your meditating candles so we can have some light?" Anna asked him.

Spock nodded before moving to do so. He walked around his meditation candles, lighting them one by one.

Anna looked around the room confused. She thought that big cities like this didn't experience power cuts anymore. Could just have been that a cadet hacking into the lighting systems. After all it was Halloween. It may be a poor attempt to scare somebody. Well, she hoped that whoever they were trying to scare had a dorm with no windows like Spock and Anna did, in case turning off the lights when it is light outside doesn't really work.

"Is it usual for lights to go out on Halloween?" Spock asked as he lit the final candle.

Anna shook her head. "No. I've never heard of a big city getting a power cut. We get them a few times back home, but only in really bad weather."

"I presume the term 'power cut' means loss of power?" Spock asked in assumption.

Anna nodded. "yeah, it stems from when they used to have loads of wires for power and somebody could cause a building to lose power by just 'cutting' a wire, hence the term 'power _cut_'."

"I believe that due to the loss of power you will be unable to cook the pumpkin pie." commented Spock, nodding his head to where Anna had placed the pumpkin pie.

Anna sighed, "Yeah, we'll see when the power comes on, it's only morning after all. If its late when it does, we'll just cook it and eat it tomorrow for dinner. I believe it's my turn to sort the food out tomorrow anyway."

"Indeed. May I inquire as to what you are planning for tomorrow?" Spock asked.

"I thought I would introduce you to a traditional English meal. I may not have ever been to England but I sure do know how to make a traditional bangers and mash. I'll obviously make the vegetarian version obviously with Quorn sausages." replied Anna with a smile. She had been trying to find one traditional meal from each Earth country for Spock to try, obviously adapting any meaty meals into their vegetarian equivalents.

Spock nodded in acceptance and what Anna thought was appreciation. Something Anna had known was that if she looked hard enough into Spock's eyes, you could see emotion shining from them.

"So, I hear that you've joined the hand to hand combat club. I thought fighting would be illogical" commented Anna, smiling at Spock.

Spock raised an eyebrow, "On Vulcan I was trained the traditional Vulcan fighting style, however after graduation I may encounter other styles of combat so it is logical to have another fighting style to use."

Anna nodded, "That does sound logical. I'm only in the club because it gives me good practice outside of lesson times. And because Jack and I use it as our challenge time. You should join us, we can have a spar. I'll tell you what, how about a fair trade. I'll teach you the many human styles of fighting in return for you teaching me the Vulcan fighting style."

Spock nodded. "That is a fair trade. Perhaps when we have a acceptable knowledge of both fighting styles we can spar?"

"Sure thing. Though you've got to teach me how to do that nerve pinch." Anna said with excitement. It had only been the other day when the topic of the nerve pinch had come up in their conversations about the Vulcan culture.

"I can teach you the nerve pinch now if you wish?" Spock asked, Anna's excitement effecting him, even if he wouldn't admit it.

Anna smiled and lead the way for them to the largest part of the room, that didn't have furniture taking up all the space. She turned to face Spock, who had followed her closely.

"The anatomy of Vulcans and Humans are different and therefore the nerve pinch will have to be adjusted if you wish to use it on a Human. I shall teach you with my Vulcan anatomy and then I shall teach you the subtle differences you will need for it to effect a human." Spock said, lifting his hand to where she could see it. His hand formed almost like a claw formation with his pointer and ring fingers. His other two fingers curling into his palm. "This is how your hand must be to perform the nerve pinch."

Anna held her own hand out and attempted to imitate what Spock's hand looked like. "Like that?"

Spock reached out to adjust her pointing finger slightly before nodding and leading her hand to his shoulder. He pressed her thumb into the top of his shoulder blade in his front. He moved it slightly to the left before he felt the nerve. He then placed her fingers on the same nerve but on his back.

"This is where the nerve pinch must be used on a Vulcan. If you applied pressure that you would have completed a Vulcan nerve pinch." Spock said to her.

Anna nodded before taking her hand away, "But most people won't stand around letting me take my time"

She reached her hand out quickly, trying to place her hands in exactly the same place Spock had put them but quickly. When her hand was on his shoulder, Spock reached up and adjusted her position slightly. She had almost got it in the same position, just not quite left enough.

"Try again." Spock suggested.

Anna did. Letting go of Spock just to shoot her hand back up almost straight away. Again she landed off, but this time too far left. Anna tried a third time and was overjoyed when Spock's face twitched slightly, an indicator that she had hit the nerve she had intended.

"Good." Spock said with a nod as she pulled her hand back away with a large smile on her face.

"Could you possibly show me the human version?" Anna asked, knowing the times she might have to use it on a Vulcan were nearly nonexistent in comparison to the times she might have to use it on a human.

Spock nodded. "Place your hand on the Vulcan nerve and I shall move it to where the nerve would be on a human."

Anna placed her hand on the Spock's nerve, he reached up and moved it slightly down the shoulder. "I can only give you a rough estimate, however in our hand to hand combat club I am sure you will be able to convince somebody to step in order for me to teach you properly."

"Sure, I'll challenge Jack to fight, if he loses, his forfeit can be to be my first Vulcan pinch victim." Anna said with a smile, her hand still upon his shoulder, "So this is where you think it should be?"

Spock nodded. "If my studies into the human anatomy are correct then it should be around that area of the human body."

"Could you find it on me?" Anna asked him, looking directly into his eyes. She's realised she was more likely to get something from him when she looks directly into his eyes. She dropped the hand that was on his shoulder to her side and waited patiently.

He nodded, and reached up to her shoulder. He placed his hand on her shoulder in the form of the nerve pinch. He pressed down slightly, only enough to locate the nerve. He travelled his hand along Anna's shoulder, only stopping when a certain area made Anna give an involuntary twitch. He loosened his hold but kept his hand where it was.

"There is the nerve" He said to her. "You cannot see the location of my hand but recognise the location by the feel and I shall show you the location in our first hand to hand combat club."

Anna didn't say anything. She wondered if Spock realised that when he had skimmed his hand down her shoulder, he had pushed her pyjama top and bra strap out of the way as well, leaving his bare fingers touching her bare shoulder. She could feel his emotions and she wondered whether he felt hers. She was finding hard to distinguish his from hers. His were so powerful that they could very well have been coming from her. She could feel his curiosity, of what she didn't know. She could feel his contentment and happiness and for a second she thought she could feel something more, but before she could distinguish it for what it was, the lights flickered back on and he quickly removed his hand from her shoulder.

Without saying a word Spock immediately went about blowing out his meditation candles now that they were not needed. He then walked into the kitchen, picking up the pumpkin pie and placing it into the oven, turning the oven on.

"180 degrees" Anna called to him, her mind still in slight shock from the emotional transference.

Spock didn't even look at her in acknowledgment but she saw that he had inputted the temperature she had called out into the oven controls.

Anna comm suddenly bleeped. She pulled it out. Jack.

_You coming to the Halloween party - J_

Anna glanced up at Spock. It was his first Halloween as she'd already started the Halloween traditions for him. She wanted to continue with them, which meant the next step was a choice between two things. Dressing up and going to the party, or remaining in their dorm room and watching some old 21st Century horror films. She glanced at Spock and wondered which he'd prefer. Probably not dressing up, that'd be 'illogical' and she knew Spock wasn't one for human social gatherings. 21st Century horror films it was.

_No, sorry. Educating Spock on horror films. - A_.

Anna typed her reply and hit send. She looked up to see Spock watching her. "Ready for the next Halloween tradition?"

"There is another?" Spock asked, his tone confused.

Anna nodded. "Yep. Hope you don't scare easily because I am about to show you my favourite 21st Century horror films. Perfect for your first Halloween."

Anna walked to her desk picking up her film padd that she had gotten for watching films. She placed it strategically on her desk so it would be viewable from her bed. She had often put on a film for her and spot in her attempt to educate him in various things about the human culture. She would place the padd on her desk and take a seat on her bed. She would then expect him to take a seat next to her because it was the most comfortable way for both them to see the padd at the best quality it had to offer.

She typed in the first film and set it to play. She took a seat on her bed and slowly Spock joined her, his curiosity piqued. He wondered what these 'horror' films were going to be like in comparisons to the 'Romance', 'Drama' and 'Action' films that she had shown him.

Anna's comm beeped again and she glanced down at it.

_You can show the Vulcan your films anytime. Come to the party, only one Halloween a year - J_

Anna frowned. She was well aware that without the pair even meeting they already seemed to have some friction between them, something that has made them dislike the other. She decided not to reply. She turned her comm on to silent and placed it on her bedside table, making a mental note to not only turn off silent in the morning but also to apologise to Jack for the blatant ignore.

"You have excluded yourself from festive celebration in order to show me these 'horror' films? Why?" Spock asked.

Anna forgot for a moment that as Spock was sat very close beside her that he would be able to see the message that Jack had sent.

"Because you're my friend Spock and this is your first Halloween and I'm not about to let it pass like an ordinary day for you. Now be quiet, we have exactly twelve hours of films to watch and only twelve hours until we need to really get to sleep so we're actually awake for our lectures tomorrow." Anna told him.

Anna didn't need to glance over at him fully to see the gratitude in Spock's eyes and the quick twitching of his lips. He had appreciated the gesture.

Only after two horror films and watching Anna hide behind a pillow for a few scenes of the films, Spock was questioning their logic.

"It is highly illogical to watch a film that will induce such fear that you illogically assume a pillow will offer you protection" Spock commented.

Anna snorted a laugh as she used the break between films to turn the oven off and remove her pie. It was slightly too dark around the edges of the pastry but it was edible. She glanced back at Spock and attempted to explain the logic behind the illogical films. "The whole idea of films to illicit an emotional response from the audience. Each film genre has the intention of eliciting a different response. Horror films are all about creating fear."

"It still remains illogical to watch something you are afraid of." Spock commented.

"Maybe so. But we still do it." Anna replied with a smile, approaching the padd and pressing for the next film to play before settling back down on the bed.

"Can I ask, were you scared at any point in those films?" Anna asked at the titles started for the next film.

Spock raised an eyebrow at her, "It is illogical to fear something that is so clearly fictional."

Anna laughed slightly. "Of course."


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER - I OWN NONE OF THESE CHARACTERS, PLANETS OR LOCATIONS, EXCEPT FOR MY OC ANNA.**

**STARDATE** 5th November 2249

Anna sat at her computer on her desk. She was reading through her report on the traditional Federation phaser. She had been given it three days ago and still had another week until hand in but she wanted to get it done and out of the way. She was proof reading it. She planned to ask Spock to read it through for any grammatical errors or spelling mistakes. He was often more than happy to read her work through, after all it is a logical decision 'to ensure maximum quality' in her reports.

She was about half way through when she heard the door open and Spock walk in. She glanced over, smiled at him and then turned back to proof reading.

"What is bon fire night?" Spock asked suddenly, from the kitchen area.

Anna glanced over with a frown. "It's an English celebration. I don't know much about it but what I do know is it's to celebrate the fact that a man named Guy Fawkes was caught before he managed to blow up parliament. They celebrate with fireworks."

"And what is a 'firework'?" Spock asked clearly confused.

"Um, it's kind of hard to explain without seeing one. It's like a rocket and its shot into the sky and after a certain amount of time in the sky it... blows up, and the light from it... um comes out in certain patterns and it's all pretty and stuff. Like I said, it's pretty hard to describe" Anna replied, turning completely away from her computer and approaching Spock in the kitchen.

"Would you like to attend a firework show?" Spock asked her, handing her his padd, which had open an electronic leaflet detailing about a firework show to celebrate bonfire night, hosted by a group of English cadets.

Anna glanced through the details, where it was and whether it had been given an Admirals permission to go ahead before looking up at Spock and nodding. "I love fireworks. I've only ever seen them at the end of the year."

"Then we shall attend tonight" Spock said, his lips twitching up.

Anna smiled. She had noticed Spock's lips twitching more than before. She presumed that meant he was about to smile but manages to stop himself just seconds before a full smile comes out. She and him were making a good headway when it comes to their friendship. She was more confident now that he would class her as a friend. "Okay. After dinner we'll head over"

Anna headed back to her computer and back to her proof reading.

"You have spelt 'erosive' incorrectly" commented Spock.

It was only then than Anna realised he had followed her and was reading her report over her shoulder. She found the incorrect word and re-spelt it, this time correctly.

"Would you like me to read it through for any further mistakes?" Spock asked her.

Anna nodded, "Yes please, Spock."

Anna stood and moved to the side as Spock took a seat in her chair.

"Perhaps while I am proof reading you could comm your brother as you will be unable to comm him tonight" Spock suggested to her.

Anna nodded and grabbed her comm. It was a good point. It was a day where she would usually comm her brother so it was only fair that she just commed him early. She pressed for his contact and waited as it rang.

"_Hey, Anna. What's up?"_ James said, as soon as he answered. He had gained another bruise and cut on his eyebrow. Anna sighed at that wondering who he had gotten into a fight with this time. There were only so many fighters in Iowa pubs and bars.

"Just thought I'd check in. I'm going out tonight so I thought I'd comm earlier." Anna replied with a smile, deciding not to comment on the obvious injuries.

_"Ohhh, where you going? Drinking?"_ asked James, obviously curious and slightly teasing. In the time that Anna had been at the Academy she had only been out drinking four times, mostly with Jack and Hanalee.

"No. Going to a firework display." She replied. "I won't be out late but I didn't know what time I'd be back in."

"_Oh, a firework display. Couldn't be a date could it?"_ James asked with a laugh, his eyebrows wiggling suggestively.

Anna quickly glanced over to Spock, who had obviously frozen where he was sat. He had obviously been listening in as the screen was still on the first page, usually he'd be a bit further than that.

"No. Just going out with a _friend_" Anna replied, stressing the word 'friend' so James didn't get any ideas.

"_A _male_ friend?_" James asked teasingly.

Anna just smiled and rolled her eyes. "Yes, a male friend, but just a friend."

_"What, is he not boyfriend material?_" James questioned with a smile on his face, leaning back in his chair.

Anna laughed awkwardly, quickly glancing over to Spock who was so obviously listening in. "Um, he could be, but honestly James we've only known each other since we got the Academy. I'm not you, I don't pick random people up, shag them and then never see them again"

_"I don't..."_ James went to argue when a questioning look from Anna had him backtracking, _"Okay, so maybe I do, but hey, we've all got to live a bit sometimes."_

Anna rolled her eyes and sighed, "Oh, James, what am I going to do with you?"

_"You love me anyway."_ James commented with a smirk.

"Yes, unfortunately, I do." Anna replied, with a quick sigh. She knew it was true. No matter what James did or what he did with his life, she would still love him. He was her nice and caring - if not slightly annoying - little brother.

_"Anyway, I'd love to stay and chat Anna but I was about to go out. Speak to you on Wednesday?"_ James said suddenly, posing the question they both knew she would say yes to. Wednesday would be two days away which would follow in the their decision of talking every other day.

"Sure thing. James. Stay out of trouble." Anna said, with a smile, well aware that James would not stay out of trouble. It wasn't that he went looking for trouble, it was more trouble went looking for him and then James just didn't know how to back down.

_"Sure."_ James replied, them both knowing that the answer was a lie.

Anna smiled and gave her farewell. James did the same before he cut the connection between them. Anna glanced over at Spock who was not even bothering to pretend he hadn't been listening anymore. He had a neutral face on.

"Is something wrong with my report?" Anna asked him, well aware that that wasn't why Spock had turned around. She just wanted to pretend like he hadn't been partial to part of that conversation, especially the part that actually focussed around him.

Spock raised an eyebrow but said nothing and turned back to the computer. Anna decided to take this time to get ready to go to the hand to hand combat club. She was excited for today. Not only was she going to have her usual fight with Jack, Spock was going to teach her how to do the nerve pinch on a human properly. She wondered whether Spock would spar with her. She knew he had said they would once they had both mastered each other's fighting style but she wondered whether he would spar with her before they did.

Once she'd stepped out from the bathroom after getting changed into her gym kit, she noticed that Spock had moved. He was going through his boxes and pulled out as what could only be described at the closest thing he had to gym clothes. She moved over to her computer.

"Your report is impressive. I found no further mistakes." Spock told her, from where he was stood by his bed.

She smiled back at him. "Thank you Spock."

She saved her work and closed the computer down, moving to her bed to grab a bag.

When Spock was ready to go, the pair of them headed out of the room to the gym. They walked mostly in silence. It was common that they walked in silence, they both liked the silence as it gave them time to think.

Jack was already waiting by the time they got there. Anna knew that Jack was still a little sour on Spock, especially since she decided to stay in with Spock on Halloween instead of going out with him. Anna watched as Jack smiled at her but then frowned when he spotted Spock walk in with her. Jack approached them.

"You joining us, Spook?" Jack asked, saying Spock's name wrong.

Anna frowned, wondering whether Jack said it wrong on purpose, before she corrected him. "His name is Spock."

"Right, sorry, Spock. You joining us today?" Jack corrected himself with a smile towards Anna.

"Yes, Anna and I are teaching each other our cultures fighting styles, as it is logical to have knowledge of more than one." Spock replied to him in a tense but neutral tone.

Jack nodded before turning to Anna, "We putting a hold on our sparring match then?"

Anna nodded, "For now. But would you just do me a favour?"

"Sure" Jack replied, nodding his head with a smile to Anna, not even glancing at Spock.

Anna reached out her hand and placed it on his shoulder on where she thought the nerve was. She glanced back at Spock quickly and he nodded his head. She pressed down and Jack slowly dropped into unconsciousness.

"It seems you do not need any further instruction on the nerve pinch." commented Spock who was looking down at Jack with amusement in his eyes.

Anna laughed slightly before calling out to a lad on the other side of the room, who was obviously finishing up. "Loughton, Jack's unconscious but he'll wake up soon, will you take him up to your dorm after your finished?"

"Sure. I'll get him up there." The lad, Loughton, who was also Jack's dorm mate, called back.

Anna then turned to Spock and led him to the sparring mats.

"Okay, do you want to learn or teach first?" Anna asked Spock, placing her bag down at the edge of the mat.

"I shall teach first" Spock said, stepping up.

Anna nodded. "Okay, where should I be?"

"Directly in front." Spock instructed.

Anna stood directly in front of Spock, keeping her eyes on his form and stature. They spent about half an hour covering the Vulcan styles of fighting, Suus Mahna. Anna found the Suus Mahna difficult to pick up, but Spock told her that it can take years to master a single move. She continued learning determined. The second half hour of the hour Anna decided to teach Spock Jujitsu just because she could use it as an excuse to flip Spock on his back, which she did once before he started flipping her. He picked up on the style a lot quicker then she thought.

After she had been flipped to the ground for the tenth time, she stayed down instead of getting back up, groaning. She looked up to Spock as he offered her a hand to get up. She reached up and grasped onto his sleeved arm, remembering what Spock had said about what palm to palm contact was to a Vulcan. Spock grasped onto her arm and pulled up her up. As he pulled her up Anna tripped. Spock caught her just before she went flying on to her face.

Anna chuckled awkwardly stabilising herself and pulling herself out of Spock's arms. "Thanks Spock. I had fun today. Perhaps next week I'll teach you Karate"

Spock nodded. "I would appreciate that"

Anna smiled and turned and picked up her bag before leading the pair of them back out.

When they were back at their dorm room Anna stepped straight into the shower. She would shower and change into something appropriate for the bon fire night. She decided it was a fairly cold night so she changed into a pair of jeans, a long sleeved thermal top with a jumper. She put on two pairs of sock and a pair of trainers. She took her woollen gloves, scarf and hat out of her under bed storage. As she placed them on her bed she noticed how tatty they were getting. They were starting to fray and holes were starting to appear. She had seen a nice set in Iowa, she would have to get them the next time she was back home.

Anna replicated them two dishes of pasta covered in a tomato sauce, one for her and one for Spock. It was ready for when Spock stepped out of the bathroom from his own shower. Anna passed a plate over to him curiously. It would be the first time Spock had had some pasta.

"May I acquire as to the name of this dish?" Spock asked.

"Pasta in a tomato sauce. Originally from Italy." Anna replied digging into her own pasta. "It's one of James' favourite meals so we usually have it quite a lot. It's one of the only things he's not allergic to"

She watched as Spock took his first bite. "Well, what do you think?"

"It is more than acceptable" Spock replied, taking another bite.

Anna smiled. She had gathered over the term of the last few months that that meant he more than liked it. She has only had a response that enthusiastic about a foreign dish a few times.

It was about six o'clock when they both wrapped up warm to head out of the bon fire night. It was out on the field behind the majority of the accommodation blocks. When Anna and Spock arrived there was already a crowd gathering, a mixture of students and officers. Anna decided that they weren't likely to get a great view from where they were stood, so she took Spock's arm and lead him to the hill that's just behind the field. A few others had obviously had the same idea, but the hill was far less populated then down on the level ground. Anna, who had brought a blanket, placed it down on the ground before taking a seat. She patted the place next to her on the blanket for Spock to sit, which he did.

"You're going to love this Spock. I love fireworks. They can be a bit loud but their really pretty. They've been around for centuries but they just don't get old." Anna told him excitedly. It had been a long time since she'd been personally at a firework show. She saw the New Year fireworks on the TV every year but it's not the same as actually being there.

Spock didn't reply immediately but after a few moments he said, "Many people have gathered. I presume it is a very popular event."

Anna nodded. "Yeah. Everybody likes some fireworks. In America you usually only get them at the new year, so it's exciting to see them at any other time. I haven't seen them live for many years, only ever on the TV. You don't really get many firework shows in Iowa."

Just then the first firework went up into the sky. It burst into a mixture of green and red. Anna quickly glanced over to Spock. Spock's neutral face had gone. His face was filled with wonder and surprise. It was like seeing a child going into a candy store for the first time. The sight made Anna smile, before turning her attention back onto the next firework.

There was a steady stream of fireworks for the next five minutes, when Spock turned to Anna, "These fireworks are fascinating."

Anna took that as Vulcan for he was enjoying himself but he didn't want to admit it. "They're pretty"

Anna could see out of the corner of her eye that Spock had relaxed out of his stuff posture by placing his arms out behind him to support him. One was behind Anna and Anna had felt as his arm had slightly grazed her back as he extended them out. The touch sent good shivers up her spine.

She glanced at him, only to find him watching her. His eyes shined in the light of the fireworks, and the soft emotion in them was so clear to see. A mixture of fascination, joy and wonder. She could feel herself leaning in, her face getting closer to him. It seemed that he was also leaning in. Their faces were only centimetres apart when a shout made them jump apart. "Anna!"

Both Anna and Spock glanced back to see Hanalee and her roommate, Alexis, heading down the hill. Anna was unsure about how long they had been there, able to see Spock and her but it made her face burn bright red. She was in slight disbelief. Had she been about to kiss Spock. It seemed so sudden for her. Up until that point she'd only ever seen him as a friend but all of a sudden they were about to kiss.

"Hanalee, Alexis!" Anna called back with a smile.

Both Hanalee and Alexis came over. "You enjoying the fireworks?" Hanalee asked.

Anna nodded and quickly glanced over to Spock. "Yeah, it's really good."

"Alright, well we'll see you later. We're going to talk to the English 3rd years. You know what English guys are like" Hanalee said with a laugh and a cheeky wink.

Anna laughed along with Hanalee and Alexis. "Okay, I'll see you in class on Monday"

Hanalee and Alexis disappeared down the hill with a 'bye'. Anna glanced at Spock to see him looking at her. She felt like he wasn't truly looking but just facing her direction. It seemed like he was stuck in his thoughts. His eyes were filled with confusion, but it wasn't a confusion she was used to seeing when he needed something explaining. It was almost like he was confused at himself.

She was confused at herself. Since when was she interested in Spock like that, in a way that would make her kiss him. Was she even interested or was it just in the moment? It must have been the moment, she concluded.

She wasn't gaining a crush on Spock, or at least that is what she was telling herself.


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER - I OWN NONE OF THESE CHARACTERS, PLANETS OR LOCATIONS, EXCEPT FOR MY OC ANNA.**

**STARDATE** 24th December 2249

Anna rushed across the road, her hood pulled up. She had her bag clutched close to her chest. She wasn't sure how waterproof her bag was and she didn't want it to get covered in snow. It was snowing heavily and it had been for an hour. The snow was settling and Anna wondered whether this Christmas was going to be the first white Christmas for a hundred and ten years. She was rushing towards the international post room. It would be the first time she'd stepped into the international post room considering all her post came from James and he was obviously in America.

She rushed inside the post room, relieved as there was a rush of warm air cover her. She pulled her hood down and shook the snow from her body. She let her bag drop so it was just hanging from her shoulder. She stepped up to the counter.

Stood behind the counter was an older gentleman. He had greying hair and wrinkly skin. He had a charming smile which told Anna that his guy was definitely a charmer in his younger year. "Can I help you lass?"

Anna smiled, "I hope so, I've hopefully got a package from Vulcan."

"Name please?" the man asked with a smile, opening up his record book.

Anna was quite surprised to see that an actual paper book was his log book. It was old fashioned for anything to be on paper these days but she supposed it was safer to keep it all together on paper as paper can't be accidently deleted.

"Kirk. Annabeth Kirk." Anna replied.

"Kirk" the man repeated as he looked through the pages on his book until he came to the page detailing the most recent deliveries. "Ah, here you are. Arrived just this morning. Can I have your dorm number please and your student ID."

Anna smiled, getting her ID out of her bag and handing it over. "My room is MG649."

The man smiled, looking over her ID and then handing it back. "Okay, I'll just grab your parcel and then your good to go"

The man disappeared to somewhere to the back of the room and when he returned he returned with a big box. He placed it on the counter and pushed it over. He grabbed his record book and pushing it towards her. He put a star by a dotted line next to where her package was recorded.

"Will you just sign here to say that you've collected it?" he asked.

Anna nodded, taking the pen and signing the page.

"Alright, have a good day lass, and Merry Christmas" the man said as he took the book back and placed it back in its place.

"Thank you. Merry Christmas to you too" Anna replied with a smile, taking her parcel. It was slightly awkward to carry. She placed it down slightly to pull her hood back up and open the door. She headed back out into the cold.

She didn't head to her own dorm room but to Hanalee's. She knocked on the door and Hanalee opened the door, expecting her. Anna stepped in with a greeting before sitting down on the floor and placing down her parcel. She opened it up and pulled out the one thing that she had had a nightmare trying to get from Vulcan, Plomeek tea. It came in a box with a single and simple label that stated what it was and from where on Vulcan it was from. The box it was actually in was half the size of the box it was delivered in.

Hanalee passed her a role of wrapping paper that Anna had left on the previous day. Anna immediately started wrapping it up, taking extra care to make it neat as she knew that Spock liked neat and angular stuff.

As soon as it was wrapped, she placed it carefully in her bag. She glanced up at Hanalee and said, "Thank you for letting me hideaway in your room while I wrap"

"You're welcome. Do you want the other present you wrapped a few days ago and the decorations?" Hanalee asked, pulling out a box of presents from under her bed.

Anna had collected James' present two days ago, sending it off so it reached James in time. She had already given Hanalee her gift and Jack his gift. The only presents that remained were a homemade Christmas pudding for Commander Pike and Spock's Plomeek tea.

Anna took Commander Pike's wrapped Christmas Pudding and placing along with Spock's gift in her bag. She then took the box of Christmas decorations she had bought. It was time to decorate her and Spock's dorm room and to introduce Spock to Christmas.

Anna gave Hanalee a farewell before heading back out into the snow. She headed towards the offices. She had a theory that Commander Pike would still be in his office and he was. She knocked and only entered when he yelled out.

As she entered Commander Pike looked up to her with surprised eyes, "Anna! What are you doing here? Is there something wrong?"

Anna shook her head as she sat down at on the seat opposite him, in front of the desk. "No, I just came by to wish you a Merry Christmas and to give you your gift."

Anna reached into her bag and took out the wrapped Christmas pudding and placed it in front of Commander Pike. Commander Pike smiled as he picked it up.

"You know, this could be classed as crossing the line between Commander and Cadet." Commander Pike said with a small laugh.

Anna shrugged her shoulders, "Its off record."

Pike laughed again, before taking the present and unwrapping it, revealing the Christmas Pudding. Commander Pike looked to Anna with gratitude. "So you do listen when I talk."

"Of course I do. I remembered that you said this would be your first year without a homemade Christmas Pudding so I made you one" Anna said gently, remembering one of the rare comments that Commander Pike had made about his own personal life. She had spent a good few hours on Commander Pike's present, after all she had to learn how to make a Christmas Pudding and her first attempt had been a bit of a disaster.

"Well, thank you. I shall enjoy eating that. Have you sent something to your brother?" Commander Pike said as he placed the Christmas Pudding down on his desk, looking towards Anna.

Anna nodded. "Yeah, I got him a new padd to do his school work with. He's been almost begging for a new one for a while with his starting to get a bit old and slow. He should have gotten it by now because I sent it a few days ago."

Commander Pike nodded again, "And your room mate, have you got anything for him? Does he celebrate Christmas."

"No, but I said to him that I would introduce him to human traditions and holidays so Christmas is pretty high on the list. I've got him some Vulcan Plomeek Tea, from Vulcan. He's always commenting on how the tea here is 'unsatisfactory' and how Vulcan Plomeek tea is 'more than acceptable" Anna replied, quoting Spock on what he had commented on the tea from Earth and from Vulcan.

Commander Pike laughed at the quoting of Spock. "I'm sure he'll find his present 'more than acceptable"

Anna nodded with a large smile. "I hope so. I'm about to go and decorate the room. I'm hoping to get Spock to help me decorate the tree. It's something that I used to with James so I want to still do it this year, so I'm hoping Spock will help me."

"Well, you shouldn't hideaway all day in here. I believe I saw Cadet Spock heading out. This would be a good time to go and sneak in with his present." Commander Pike commented with a smile.

"Of course Commander" replied Anna, standing, picking back up her box of decorations and her bag and heading out.

She went back to her and Spock's dorm and was happy that Spock was out, which gave her prefect opportunity to set up the Christmas Decorations.

Anna smiled as she placed up the decorations that she had bought. She had placed a line of tinsel around the walls of the room, excluding the kitchen walls obviously, she didn't want to start a fire. Lights had been pinned to the ceiling creating a trail of light going from the far left corner to the centre of the dorm room to the far right corner. They were pinned in two places in each direction so some parts dangled down slightly. She had placed a red stocking on the edge of her desk. She had also placed one on Spock's desk, though she was unsure how he was going react to it. Inside Spock's stocking the gift that she had gotten him. She smiled at the thought of giving him his gift. She just hoped he liked it.

She had placed a small tree in the corner of the room on her side of the room. She wanted to put it somewhere more central to the room but she didn't want to impose on Spock's space. She had currently left it bare but the tree decorations lay neatly in their box at the foot of the tree.

The door suddenly slid open. Anna turned hesitantly to see Spock stood at the doorway looking into the dorm room with a slight glint of curiosity in his eyes.

"I was unaware that you disliked the aesthetics of the room." Spock commented as he stepped inside and to his desk where he had obviously spotted the stocking hanging from it. "And my desk."

Anna just laughed. "No, no, it's not like that. They are temporary decorations for the Christmas holiday."

"Christmas. I am unfamiliar with this holiday." Spock said, his hand going to open the stocking.

"No, don't open it. You can't look until tomorrow. It's not Christmas day yet, it is only Christmas eve." Anna told him quickly, stepping up beside him to ensure he didn't try to open the stocking again.

"What is the holiday of Christmas?" Spock asked, looking down to Anna was.

"Christmas was originally a religious celebration for the religion of Christianity, though that time has long passed. Now it's more a celebration because of tradition than anything else. Some still hold it as a religious holiday but not all. Many people decorate their houses in a similar way to how I've decorated our room. It is also a tradition to give the people you care about a gift. Gifts are usually placed under the Christmas tree" as she said this she waved her hand over to the Christmas tree in the corner before continuing, "Or in stockings like these" Anna pointed to the stocking. "Gifts, or presents are usually opened on Christmas morning."

"You have gifted me with a... stocking and a gift?" Spock asked, almost unsurely.

"Of course Spock. You're my friend and I care about you" Anna replied with a soft smile on her face.

Spock just nodded before moving to his bed.

"Would you like to help me decorate the tree?" Anna asked Spock.

Spock glanced at her and her hopeful face.

"I mean, I can decorate it on my own if you don't want to, but decorating the tree was something James and I always did, without fail, on Christmas Eve. And before James was born it was something Dad and I used to do." Anna continued, walking to the tree and taking the decorations out in the order she would need them and placed them on the bed.

"I shall participate in decorating the tree" Spock replied, finding it hard to disappoint Anna when she was so hopeful.

Anna handed him the tree lights. "See the middle bit. Place that at the top." Anna instructed him.

Spock did as she instructed. She stood on one side of the tree as he stood on the other.

"Okay, we need to wrap them around the tree. Try and make them evenly spread, starting from the top and working our way down. We'll do that side of the lights first and then we'll do the other." Anna told him.

Spock nodded and took one side of the lights, wrapping it around his side and passing it to Anna. Spock and Anna worked in almost silence as they wrapped the tree up in lights.

"Okay, now the hanging decorations. Just pick one from the box and put it on. Don't worry too much about what your putting where. Christmas trees are usually a unorganised pretty mess." Instructed Anna with a smile.

They began slowly adding hanging decorations to the tree. Anna was particularly happy when she got to put on a hanging Starfleet emblem.

"My mother used to speak of a Terran holiday around this time, however we never celebrated it." Spock suddenly said, as he placed on a hanging model of Vulcan, that he guess Anna had bought especially for him."She used to speak of a grand meal and how she would sit with her family."

Anna smiled. "The Christmas day meal is usually the biggest meal of the year in my family. Before Dad died we'd have every member of the family over. I don't remember much from that long ago but there were plenty of holovids of the holidays. I remember I found them in the loft. My mother used to make them to document the holiday, every year without fail until dad died. After that I tried to put the Christmas spirit into James, but we had a few years without a Christmas meal until I was able cook it."

"Fascinating." commented Spock.

Anna turned and got the tinsel for the tree. She handed on to Spock. "Here wrap this round. Try not to cover any lights but don't worry if you do"

Spock did as she said. Anna wrapped another one around the tree. With a smile Anna turned to the second to last item in the box. A can of fake snow. She smiled mischievously towards Spock as he finished placing his tinsel. She snuck up behind him, quietly shaking the can. She was thankful it was a silent can.

Spock turned to face her, obviously about to ask what was next, when his face was suddenly sprayed with some sort of soft substance. He squinted his eyes in the direction of Anna who was giggling with a hand pressed over her mouth. Spock whipped a hand over his face, satisfied with the fact that it brushed off easy enough. He raised an eyebrow in Anna's direction causing Anna to giggle a bit more.

"What is this substance?" Spock asked her.

"Fake snow. We put it on the tree because typically in America when we celebrate Christmas it is Winter and so people have aligned Christmas trees with snow. You just have to spray it on and it will settle on the branches." Anna told him, with a smile, handing him the can.

Spock turned and sprayed on the tree, coating it in snow from the top to the bottom, focussing slightly more on the top. When Anna was least expecting it, he turned suddenly and spray some in Anna's face just as she had done to him.

Anna just laughed as she whipped it off her face. She looked at Spock to see his usual blank mask was broken slightly. His lips were slightly up turned and his eyes glistened in amusement.

"Oh that's it. You're in trouble now." Anna said mischievously turning to her bed where her pillows were. She quickly turned and threw one in Spock's direction. It had caught him of guard, hitting him in his back.

Anna almost expected him to just raise an eyebrow and want to carry on with the tree. What she didn't expect was him to pick up the pillow and throw it back at her. In her shock, she didn't block the pillow or dodge it or try to catch it. It hit her straight in the face. That was the very first moment she had ever heard Spock laugh. It was short and quick but it was a laugh and it made her smile.

She placed her pillow back and turned to take out the last item of decoration. The angel. She had asked James whether she could put the family angel of her tree at the Academy. He had agreed because he probably wouldn't be doing a tree that year. She smiled. The angel was old. It had been passed down her Dad's side of the family for years. She looked over to Spock. She handed it to him.

" This angel had been used on my family tree for over one hundred years. When the family welcomes a baby, on their first Christmas they put the angel on the tree, with help from an adult of course. And if there's no new baby's the oldest in the family does it. I think as it's your first Christmas, it would be breaking Kirk tradition if you didn't put it on." Anna said to Spock with a smile.

Spock's lips twitched up so much that even Spock wouldn't have been able to deny that that wasn't a smile. "It would be an honour to take part in such a long running tradition"

He placed the angel on the tree.

Anna cheered before ordering "Computer, main lights off. Decorative lights at seventy percent."

Anna smiled cheerfully as the main lights turned off and the only light was from the decorative lights. It made the room sparkle in different colours as the multi-coloured lights on both the tree and on the ceiling flashed and reflected on the tinsel.

"Fascinating" commented Spock, and Anna was inclined to agree with him.

"Right. Film time. Time to introduce you to 21st century Christmas movies." Anna said with excitement setting up her padd and setting up for the first movie.

Anna took her usual seat on her bed and Spock came and sat next to her. They had watched so many different films like this that Anna didn't even need to suggest that he sit by her anymore. It had almost become second nature for him to sit by her on her bed.

Spock and Anna watched through three Christmas films together that night before Anna slowly fell asleep on Spock's shoulder.

Spock's lips twitched up as he saw that Anna had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He'd deny it but he enjoyed having her close. When he first entered their dorm room he was worried and unsure about not only sharing a room with somebody, but especially sharing a room with a woman. However, over the course of the last few months she had brightened up his very monotone life. She was a spitfire, his spitfire. She was the brightness in even his most boring days. She was his sunshine. More recently more and more of his thoughts concerned her. He found that she was quickly taking over his mind, covering every thought that he had.

On the night of the firework show he had had the most desirable urge to kiss her and he was sure they would have kissed had it not been for the distraction.

He lifted Anna's head from his shoulder and gently laid her down on his bed, tucking her gently into her bed. He watched her for a second. He raised his hand and ran it down the side of her face. Ever since he had ran his fingers along her shoulder when he was teaching her the nerve pinch he had wanted to feel her soft skin again.

He restrained himself from leaving his hands on her skin before drawing back and getting himself ready for bed and tucking himself in. He couldn't deny that he was curious with what the next day will bring. Anna seemed so excited and she had gifted him a gift. He quickly stood back up and got dressed. She had gifted him a gift and so it was only right for him to gift her one as well. She had said that you gifted those that you care about.

He did, he cared about her.


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER - I OWN NONE OF THESE CHARACTERS, PLANETS OR LOCATIONS, EXCEPT FOR MY OC ANNA.**

**STARDATE** 25th December 2249

Anna woke up bubbling with excitement. She woke earlier than usual, but she always did on Christmas day. She looked over to Spock's bed. He was already awake as his bed was empty. She got up and walked to her stocking where she had placed the gift that arrived in the post from James. She took the stocking and walk back to her bed.

Just as she took a seat back on the bed, Spock walked out of the bathroom, already in his clothes for the day.

"Merry Christmas Spock." greeted Anna.

"Happy Christmas" he replied. "Am I correct in assuming that I may open my gift?"

"Yes. Me and James used to open them as soon as awoke. We would always open them at the same time. After all usually it's just a gift each, from each other." Anna told him, with a smile.

Spock took his stocking and sat on his bed, opposite her and opened his stocking. Anna decided to watch him open his gift before looking into her stocking. Spock reached into his stocking and pulled out a neatly wrapped gift. It was wrapped in typically shiny gift wrap. Spock glanced up at Anna to see her watching him. She nodded in encouragement and so he started to undo one side of the wrapping. He unwrapped it so delicately, not even ripping the paper once. He fully unwrapped it to reveal a box. He opened the box and glanced inside before looking back up at Anna.

"Plomeek tea. I remembered you said that you favoured it to the tea here. So I went looking for some. I couldn't find any on Earth so I ordered it to be delivered from Vulcan. It was quite a palaver trying to explain the merits of ordering it for a Christmas present to the Vulcans responsible for getting it there." Anna told him with a smile and a small laugh. "Apparently gifting somebody tea from another planet for an old holiday is highly illogical."

Anna saw as Spock's lips twitched up. "Your gift... is appreciated. You have my gratitude"

Anna took that as he liked it.

She smiled as she dug into her own stocking to pull out the gift James had sent to her. However what shocked her was when her hand touched two gifts. She pulled out the gift from James and then another one. The one from James was typically wrapped in shining yellow wrapping paper. She wanted to rip her way into it but after watching the care that Spock had taken with his gift, she thought again and opened it just as delicately as he had opened hers.

James had bought her a woolly hat and scarf set. She recognised them from a store in Iowa. She was shocked, she never knew that James had seen her admiring them and she doubted they were just a lucky guess. They were blue and purple stripped with threads of sparkling silver running through them. They were soft to touch and warm. They were old fashioned as they had little of the warming technology the modern scarf and hats had but she much preferred the natural warmth of a normal woollen scarf and hat. She placed them to the side after admiring them.

She turned to her second gift. It was gift wrapped in silver, almost reflective, wrapping paper. She opened this gift very delicately. She was unsure what she was going to find inside it. Once the wrapping paper was removed she was shocked to find two books. One was titled 'The Vulcan culture' and the other was a book on tactics. She knew she had been moaning to Spock about how she had been trying to take it out of the library for weeks but somebody always had it. She knew instantly who she needed to thank for her gift. She looked up to him, as he sat on his bed. He was watching her just as she had been watching him when he opened her gift.

"Thank you Spock." She said to him as she stood. She stepped over to him and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. "But you didn't need to get me anything."

"You said that a tradition at Christmas is to gift people that you care about, it was only logical that I gifted you with something." Spock replied.

Anna wondered for a moment what he meant by that, did that mean he cared for her?

"Well, thank you. I love them." Anna told him. "Do you want a drink? How about your first glass of Plomeek tea since you came to the academy?"

Spock nodded."I would be most grateful."

Anna took the Plomeek Tea from Spock's hand and went to the kitchen part of the room to make it while she made herself some Hot Chocolate. Spock followed her into the kitchen, watching her walk around the kitchen, taking things out of cupboards, using them, and then putting them back.

Anna placed the Plomeek Tea in front of Spock and watched as he took his first sip. He could tell by the way his eyes shined that he enjoyed his first sip of Plomeek Tea since he arrived at the Academy.

"Good?" Anna asked.

Spock nodded. "More than acceptable."

Anna drank her Hot Chocolate. Christmas Day was probably one of the only days that she would drink Hot Chocolate when she wasn't feeling down or as Spock would say 'emotional'.

"Are there any other Christmas traditions?" Spock asked, after a few minutes of silence as they both enjoyed their beverages.

Anna nodded. "The Christmas meal. I'm going to replicate the ingredients in a minute and start making it so we can ear at about one."

"May I enquire as to what Christmas Meal involves?" Spock asked.

"Sure. We're going to be a having Plomeek soup for starters, Quorn meat with vegetables and potatoes for main and my homemade Christmas Pudding for pudding." Anna replied to him, having to think carefully about what they were eating. She had managed to find the code to replicate the ingredients Plomeek soup so they could have that for starters. She had of course had to adapt the traditional Christmas meal into a vegetarian meal so Spock could eat it. Anna could barely remember the last time she had meat, probably the meal before she came to the Academy. She didn't really like eating meat in front of Spock, she knew he probably wouldn't mind but she just found it awkward and slightly rude. And finally for pudding she had made another Christmas Pudding. She made it at the same time that she made Commander Pike's Christmas Pudding. She was looking forward to digging into it and trying it out.

Anna replicated the ingredients as soon as she'd finished her Hot Chocolate and started preparing for the Christmas meal. As she did Anna turned to Spock and said, "Why don't you comm your mother and wish her a Merry Christmas? I'm sure she'd like that. It'd be about mid afternoon at Vulcan so she'd be awake"

Spock nodded and moved over to his desk and computer. "Hello mother" was the only indication that he had actually commed her.

"_Spock! What a pleasant surprise. I wasn't expecting to hear from you today!" _Spock's mother, Amanda replied, through the screen.

Anna continued to make the Christmas meal, trying to not listen in but it is difficult when the room is silent other than Spock's conversation with Amanda.

"I commed you to wish you a Merry Christmas. Anna has been teaching me about the human traditions. She'd said you would appreciate being wished a Merry Christmas" Spock said towards the computer screen where the live feed of his mother was.

_"Of course. Merry Christmas to you as well Spock, and wish Anna a Merry Christmas from me as well."_ Amanda replied. _"One day you must bring Anna with you back to Vulcan. I would very much like to meet her."_

"She is here if you wish to speak with her mother. She is currently cooking a Christmas meal for the two of us." Spock said.

"_No, I'll let her continue cooking. I'll get to meet her one day."_ Amanda replied. Anna could just imagine that the woman would have a smile on her face.

Anna had always thought that Amanda sounded like a very happy and smiley woman, which made her wonder how Spock didn't smile as much, after all Anna had always thought that smiles were contagious. It was hard to not smile to somebody who was smiling to you.

It was about 1300 hours that Anna dished up the Plomeek soup. By that time Spock was already sat at the table, having finished his conversation with his mother only half an hour after starting the conversation.

She placed the soup in front of Spock and herself as she sat down. She bit her lip nervously, wondering what he was going to think of the Plomeek soup. She'd tasted it when he had made it and it was delicious but he had been making it for a long time, this was her first time at making it.

She waited for Spock to take the first taste and then waited for his opinion. Spock obviously noticed her attention was on him and his opinion.

"Had I not seen you make it I would have believed you had had it imported from Vulcan." He said.

"Is that a good thing?" she asked, guessing he had meant it as a compliment but she couldn't be sure.

Spock nodded. "Yes, it took many years for me to prefect my Plomeek soup to match Vulcan's standard, so for a first attempt to be compared to a Vulcan's attempt is an acceptable compliment."

Anna smiled brightly and turned her attention to her soup.

If Anna had been nervous about the soup, she was doubly nervous about the main meal. She had only ever had compliments on her Christmas dinner from James but it had always been meat. She knew Spock had never had a Christmas meal and she wanted it be good for him. She didn't, however, wait for him to eat first on this meal. She ate at the same pace as him, watching him carefully for any hint of what he thought of the meal. As they both put down their cutlery to say they'd finished, Anna didn't even had to ask.

"That was very satisfying." Spock said, placing his fork next to his knife on his empty plate.

Anna smiled as she collected the plates and stood. She placed the dishes in the sink before turning and grabbing the Christmas pudding. She placed them both in the microwave and turned it on. She turned back to Spock to see him watching her.

She took a leaf from his book and raised an eyebrow at him.

"I am most gratified to the effort you have made with me since we have both arrived at the academy. You have not needed to be a friend to me and yet you have." Spock told her.

She looked at him shocked. It was probably the most emotional she had ever seen him. His gratitude was shining brightly in his eyes. She blushed at his intense stare.

"I'm glad to have made a friend in you Spock. You are a good person, and you have done more for me than you realise." Anna said back to him.

She could see Spock go to say something else when the microwave tinged. Anna quickly turned and took them out, placing them on the table, before fetching the ice-cream out of the freezer. She put one scoop on her own and then one scoop on Spock's. She glanced over to Spock to see that his eyes had frozen solid again, back into his Vulcan mask. Anna hid the disappointment behind a smile. She was enjoying seeing the more emotional side of Spock.

She dug into her pudding and almost moaned in content as the mixture of flavours attacked her tongue. She glanced up at Spock to see he had taken his first bite. She saw that he took another bite quite quickly which suggests that he liked it.

"This pudding is very good." Spock said.

Anna smiled to him. "I'm glad you like it. You usually only have Christmas Puddings at Christmas so it means it's a rare treat. I love it. It's one of my favourite Christmas treats."

When they had done, Anna went to collect the bowls at the same time as Spock did. Their hands touched for a minute as a spark ran through both of them as they felt each other's emotions. Spock felt Anna's happiness, content and joy. Anna felt Spock's gratitude, happiness and something else that Anna couldn't recognise in the short amount of time that they were connected. It was Anna who pulled her hand away and Spock took the dishes.

"Allow me to wash the dishes." Spock said as he stood up taking the dishes to the sink. He placed them next to the sink as the dishes from the starters and mains had filled the sink.

"Oh, Spock, No. I made the food, and the mess, I'll clean them." Anna protested, standing and stepping almost in-between Spock and the sink filled with dishes.

Spock quickly turned to face her with a raised eyebrow. "You have spent that last two hours cooking food for you and I, please allow me to show my gratitude by cleaning away."

Spock's eyes were open and glistening again, almost pleading with Anna to allow him to wash the dishes. Anna was defenceless against his emotional eyes. She couldn't look at it without wanting to give in. She lasted only minutes before she nodded and moved aside.

Spock washed the dishes in almost silence as Anna watched. Spock washed the dishes and then placed them on the draining board. He hadn't even got through a half of it when the draining board was almost full. Anna, who had been sat at the table, grabbed a table cloth and began drying the dishes and putting them away, clearing the draining board for Spock. As Anna removed something from the draining board, Spock instantly put something else in its place. They worked in silence to begin with until Anna broke the silence.

"Tell me about Vulcan" She said suddenly, glancing towards Spock.

"I have taught you all my knowledge on the planet Vulcan." Spock replied, his voice neutral.

"Not really, you've told me generic stuff that you can find on a Padd on Vulcan. I mean stuff you did on Vulcan or what made Vulcan so special?" Anna questioned, her voice light. She knew what she was trying to do. She wanted to see the emotion she had seen only a few moments ago.

Spock just looked at her with a raised eyebrow, a confused expression on both his face and in his eyes.

"Um, for example, I could tell you the figure of how many people lived in Iowa but you could find that out on a Padd, when I mean personal things I mean stuff like when I was little my Dad used to take me out to the plain lands at Riverside at sunset and we'd sit there and watch the sunset before watching the stars. He would talk to me about the different systems. I remember he would point out the different places he'd been on the Kelvin. Or how James and I once drove Dad's car around Riverside before an officer tried to pull us over." Anna said to him, a small reminiscent smile on her face.

"You were in trouble with the police?" Spock questioned, both eyebrows raising in disbelief.

Anna nodded, with a small smile. "Yeah, I was feeling rebellious. Uncle Frank was going to sell our Dad's car and we weren't about to let it get sold so we took from it the few mementoes that Dad had added to it when he owned it, before driving off. When the officer turned up, we drove to the side and through a restricted area. We honestly didn't know that there was a cliff there, but we drove the car over it."

Spock's eyebrows seemed to rise further, "And you obviously both survived the drop somehow"

"Well, we bailed out of the car before it went over. We were close to going over as well but we hanged on. As you can probably imagine we got in quite a lot of trouble." Anna half laughed as she mentioned the trouble. "Driving under age. Uncle Frank requested we be charged for thieving. Speeding. Driving away from a police officer. Entering private property. Driving dangerously. That's quite a lot of charges to clear."

Anna looked over to Spock curiously. She was interested in whether he would say anything about his childhood on Vulcan. After a few moments, he was still silent. Anna looked down, disappointed. She was always curious about Spock's life but he never said anything personal.

"The sunset." Spock suddenly said. "The sunset on Vulcan was something my mother used to take me to see when I was young. She would take me to one of the highest points near our home and we would sit to watch the sunset. She said it reminded her of home. A sunset was a constant, something that happens on both Earth and Vulcan. To me, it was peaceful. We would never speak. We would sit and watch. It gave me time to think"

Anna smiled at him, "You know she is right. Earth's sunset are just as peaceful. When it gets warmer and the skies get clearer I will take you to see a good sunset in Iowa."

Spock glanced at her, his lips twitching up into a small smile. Anna's smile brightened at the sight of it, her joy spreading into her eyes. She liked to see the smile on Spock's face. It brightened up his face when he smiles.

"When I got older I would go there to see the sunrise as well. Again, it was a peaceful moment. It was satisfactory to feel the morning warmth in the Vulcan sunrise." Spock said.

Anna nodded. "I know what you mean. To me, sunrise means hope. I went through a phase where I didn't know how to move forward. I would sit in the same place Dad used to take me, but to watch the sunrise. It brightened my morning because it reminded me that the sunrise means the start of the new day. A new day meant a fresh start."

Spock nodded back before they both turned back to cleaning away after their meal. As Anna put away the last dish she thought back on the conversation that they just had and frowned. She hadn't meant to make it upsetting or depressing. She didn't want Spock to connect Christmas with remembering sad memories. She had to find something to cheer the day back up. She glanced around the room and spotted something that sparked a thought in her mind. Snow.

"Hey Spock. Have you ever had a snowball fight?" Anna asked.

Spock looked to her and shook his head.

Anna grinned. "Wrap up warm, we're going to go and have a snowball fight."

It was late when Anna and Spock returned to their room, both cold, but flushed. Anna had begun the snowball flight with an advantage, having been very experienced at snow ball fights but as soon as Spock had got the hang of making the snowballs he soon found himself hitting Anna with snowballs more than what she was hitting him.

Anna was laughing as she entered the room, having managed to trudge snow into the accommodation block. She had been trying to hurry Spock up so then the warden didn't realise it was them that trudged all the snow in.

"It was illogical to hurry" Spock just said as they entered and started unwrapping.

"Spock, if the warden knew it was us she would have made us clear it up or do some chores to make up for it." Anna replied. "Thankfully she didn't see us."

"No, I mean it was illogical to hurry as she will find out it was us." Spock said.

"Oh yeah, how?" Anna questioned, placing a hand on her hip.

"We have trudged snow to our room." Spock said simply, looking at Anna with his eyebrow raised, a smug look in his eye.

Anna glanced down to her boots which were still dripping from melting snow. She then glanced at the floor from where she was stood, to the door. There were obvious footprints. She groaned and cursed herself in her head. Of course.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN; IT HAS BEEN POINTED OUT TO ME THAT IT DOES NOT SNOW IN SAN FRANSICO. THAT WAS AN ERROR ON MY PART, HAVING ONLY EVER BEEN SAN FRAN IN THE SUMMER. BUT BECAUSE I LIKE THE IDEA OF SNOW FOR A POSSIBLE FUTURE CHAPTER I AM GOING TO SAY THAT AS IT IS 300 YEARS IN THE FUTURE, SNOW IS POSSIBLE BECAUSE OF THE CLIMATE CHANGE.**

**DISCLAIMER - I OWN NONE OF THESE CHARACTERS, PLANETS OR LOCATIONS, EXCEPT FOR MY OC ANNA.**

**STARDATE** 31st December 2249

Anna laughed as she placed her bag down on her bed. Her and Spock had just gotten back from one of the last vintage cinemas. She had dragged Spock all the way out to the cinema to watch an old 1970's French film, with subtitles of course. She had wondered whether he would even like it but he had commented on it being 'more satisfactory and logical than horror and Christmas films'. That was the cause of her laughter.

"Spock, once again, films are all meant to inspire a different emotion in you and horror is meant to get you all riled up and scared" Anna told him.

"I still fail to see the logic behind such a thing." Spock replied, his voice monotonous.

Anna just rolled her eyes and shook her head with a smile on her face. It was almost impossible sometimes to convince Spock of some illogical things. Some things were just too illogical for you to explain logically. She sat down on her bed and turned her comm back on. You had to turn them off in the cinema. Her comm came alive with two messages, one from Hanalee and one from Jack.

_'Party at my dorm room tonight! you coming?' _ - Jack.

_'Hey, you going to the party in Bryston Halls tonight?'_ - Hanalee.

Anna glanced across to the calendar. She was slightly surprised. It was New Years Eve already. She glanced back at the messages. She presumed they meant the same party. Jack did live in the Bryston Halls after all. She typed a quick reply to them '_Yeah. I'm bringing Spock.'_

She glanced back at Spock who was stood in the kitchen. It was his turn to cook their evening meal.

"Spock" she called to get his attention.

He turned to face her.

"Have I told you about the New Years celebrations?" Anna asked him, curiously. She couldn't remember if she'd already explained the idea behind New Year or if they celebrated it on Vulcan. After all Vulcan use the same Stardate since they first started working alongside the Federation, so they could already know about New Year.

Spock shook his head. "No, you have not mentioned a celebration."

Anna smiled, hoping up from her bed and walking over to the kitchen. She took a seat at their table before turned her body to face Spock. "Well, New Years is a celebration to celebrate the start of a new year. After all 2249 becomes 2250 tonight. The New Year celebration is usually begun on New Year's eve, which is today and you usually count down to midnight which is also the start of the new year. Then you celebrate the start of the new year with parties and fireworks."

"Fascinating. Is there going to be a celebration tonight?" Spock asked, his eyebrow raised.

Anna grinned and nodded. "Yeah, Jack's throwing a party in his halls. I'm going and I was wondering if you'd like to come with me?"

Spock scrutinised her. He had never enjoyed the social settings that Anna so obviously enjoyed, like parties, but Anna has always given him that pleading look that, even on the first day, made his knees weak. How could he say no to her?

"I am most curious about the Celebration of New Year." He said.

Anna took that as a 'yes'. She cheered silently in her mind. Her grin widened with joy. Anna got out her comm to message Jack. "Okay. I'll get the time from Jack. Do you have something to wear to the party?"

Spock raised an eyebrow. "Is there a particular form of dress required?"

Anna glanced up at him and half shrugged before turning back to her comm as she spoke, "Not necessarily, but most people dress to impress. Like I'm going to be wearing my blue cocktail party dress because it's a good occasion to wear it and look pretty."

"You are already aesthetically pleasing." Spock said before he had really thought about what he was saying. Inside his mind his sense had broken out of his mental cage and was mentally abusing him for speaking without thinking, and for what he actually said.

Anna glanced at Spock again curiously. Did he just say what she had thought he had said? Did he say in his own terms that she was already 'pretty'. She smiled at him. "Thank you Spock."

_'Spock is coming tonight. When does the party start?'_ - Anna messaged Jack.

The reply was almost instantaneous. _'Party starts at 10. You really bringing Spock? He's a sociopath' _

_'Don't call him that. He's Vulcan, not a sociopath. And yes, I am bringing him. I told him I'd introduce him to all the human traditions and if a New Years Eve party isn't a human tradition then I'm not Annabeth Kirk :)' _ - Anna quickly messaged Jack back, remembering to put a smiley face on the end so he knew she wasn't too mad at him for the Spock comment. She knew there was bad blood between them, she just couldn't understand why.

"Anna, I have prepared our meal" Spock's voice broke Anna out of her thoughts. He was stood in the kitchen, two bowls of food sat on the table in front of him.

Anna couldn't help but take a sniff as she and Spock sat down at the table. It smelt nice but strong. Anna wondered what sort of food this was. It reminded her of a Indian curry dish. "What is it Spock?"

"It is a curry my mother used to make for my father and I back on Vulcan. I believe it was originally a Terran meal as my mother brought the recipe with her when she first moved to Vulcan to live with my father." replied Spock.

Anna's eyes widened slightly. She knew that Spock's mother was more emotional than any Vulcan she had ever met before but it never clicked to her that Spock's mother was possibly not a Vulcan.

"Your mother is not a Vulcan?" Anna asked Spock.

Spock glanced at her. Anna thought she saw some hesitation as he nodded. "My mother is human."

They were silent but Anna couldn't help but wonder what made Spock hesitate to answer that her question. She knew he couldn't be embarrassed by her. Even Anna could see the hidden love that Spock had for his mother. He would deny it because of his Vulcan heritage and beliefs but Anna could tell that Spock adored his mother. So why hesitate? It would have to have been something from his past. A thought occurred to her suddenly as she ate the Terran meal. Were the other Vulcans as accepting of his mother being a human as his father was? Perhaps not. Could there be some bullying there? She almost asked him about it but at the last moment decided that would be unwise as it could possibly bring up bad memories for Spock.

"Spock, can I ask you a personal question?" Anna asked, slightly unsure.

Spock raised an eyebrow at her but nodded.

"Did you - um - did you have many friends on Vulcan?" Anna asked, hesitating for a moment, wondering if this was something she really wanted to bring up in case he had actually not had a good life on Vulcan.

"Vulcans see friendships as illogical but many Vulcans have acquaintances. I knew many of my Vulcan peers though none of them were acquaintances to me or I to them. Many Vulcans believed my human half to be a disadvantage and were certain to inform me of such" Spock replied, in an unemotional tone but Anna could see the underlying hurt in his eyes.

She had been right. He had been bullied as a teen because his mother was human. That was why he hesitated. He must have been afraid of a similar occurrence here.

"Well they are illogical then. To know about two different cultures is an advantage in life. It is knowledge. And somebody shouldn't be judged on what they are whether they be human, Vulcan or Orion. They should be judged on who they are. You are an amazing person Spock and I am happy to call you my closest friend." Anna told him, to be sure that he knew he would not receive the same treatment from her than what she was sure he had encountered on his home planet of Vulcan.

"Many thanks Anna. I am gratified to call you friend." Spock replied, his lips twitching up slightly, further than they usually go.

"Right, eat up, I need to get ready. Remember dress to impress. I'm sure you've got a nice clothes combo somewhere in your clothes collection." Anna said to him as she finished her meal.

Spock nodded and finished his own.

Anna began to take the plates when they disappeared from under the hands. Spock took them.

"Spock, you cooked, I clean." Anna said adamantly.

"From listening to the conversations of our peers I have been informed that ladies generally take longer than men to prepare for a night out. Therefore it would be logical for me too clean while you begin getting ready" Spock said as he placed the plates in the sink and began filling the sink with water so he could wash them.

"Okay, but tomorrow I'll cook and clean to make up for it" Anna said with a smile.

"If that is what you wish." Spock said, glancing back over his shoulder at Anna.

"It is." Anna replied with a nod before she turned and headed to her side of the room where her bed is.

She pulled out the under bed drawer that held her clothes. She pulled out her blue cocktail dress. It was tight around the bust and stomach but loosened up at the waist and floated gracefully around her curves. She took it into the bathroom. She showered and dried her hair in the bathroom before putting on the dress. She stepped out to her desk and sat at it. She opened up her make-up case which had a mirror inside before applying her make-up.

By the time she had styled her hair and completed her make-up it was time to head over to the party. Spock was dressed in a pair of smart pants and a burgundy shirt that Anna had bought him to introduce him to terran fashion.

They left their room together. As they walked Anna glanced at Spock. She could see the apprehension in his eyes. She was beginning to doubt whether bringing him was a good idea or not. After all he had never been one for social outings like Anna was.

"Spock, I just thought I'd say that if at any point you want to leave, you can. Don't think that you can't just because I asked you to come here with me. Okay?" Anna asked him.

Spock glanced over to her and nodded briefly. That was all the confirmation that Anna needed for her to know that Spock did not want to be there. Normally he probably would have argued with her about the gentleman way. That had been what she was expecting, not for him to just agree.

"You know if you don't want to come you don't have to Spock." Anna said to him carefully, after all she didn't want him misunderstanding and thinking she didn't want him there when she actually did.

"I wish to see what the celebration is like, at the least. If it is not to my liking I shall do as you previously said and leave." Spock replied, though what Spock failed to mention was that in fact he didn't want to go but he not only wanted to spend time with Anna but he knew that if he didn't go there was less chance that she would. She had already missed one party to introduce Halloween films to him. He couldn't possibly let her miss two. No, he would go and slip away not long into the party.

It was 2300 hours when Anna and Spock knocked on Jack's door. The pounding music could be heard through the door. The door slid open without anyone on the other side opening it. Anna presumed it had been set to just open when somebody knocks as nobody would have been able to hear the knocking over the loud noise of the music.

Anna took hold of Spock's covered arm and started to lead him through the crowd of partiers. All of them dressed to impress. She managed to locate Hanalee who was talking to her roommate. Anna quickly pulled Spock over towards Hanalee.

"Hanalee!" Anna called as she reached them.

Hanalee smiled "Anna!" she cried before leaping forward to wrap Anna in a greeting hug. Hanalee almost sank against her. It was obviously to Anna as Hanalee struggled to stay on her feet through the hug that Hanalee was already intoxicated.

Anna glanced over to Hanalee's roommate. She seemed sober enough and seemed to understand the look Anna was giving her. Hanalee's roommate pulled Hanalee off of Anna before leading her away, yelling over the music to Anna, "I'm going to take her to get some water."

Anna glanced up to Spock, who was watching her with a raised eyebrow. "Is it custom to get inebriated with alcohol on New Years?" he asked.

Anna shrugged, "Like any holiday, people use it as an excuse to drink out of moderation."

Spock looked like he was about to question Anna further when he got cut off by somebody wrapping their arms around Anna, picking her up and spinning her around, all while shouting "Anna!"

Anna recognised the voice and just laughed. "Jack, put me down!"

Jack did, placing her down so he was between her and Spock. "You made it. I thought you'd gotten lost on your way here, or you'd decided not to turn up."

"No, we just running late. Sorry" Anna yelled back at Jack so she could be heard over the music.

Jack nodded before glancing back at Spock, "Hey Spock, you see that lad over there, short, blond hair, has glasses. I invited him cause I thought you and him would get along. He's very logical. Why don't you go and talk to him."

Spock raised an eyebrow at Jack while Anna looked at Jack questionably, trying to work out his motives. Spock did as he said however. He could tell when somebody was trying to rid themselves of his presence, but he didn't want to leave Anna completely, not just yet. It would after all be illogical to leave after only a few minutes.

Anna watched as Spock walked away before turning to Jack with a frown on her face. "You did that to get rid of him, didn't you?"

"Is there something wrong with wanted to spend some time with just you? I'd like a dance." Jack said cockily, placing his hands on Anna's waist before pulling her into him "I seem to have never gotten that date"

"Well, I suppose you lost the bet then." Anna replied with a smirk.

"Ah ah ah. Not so fast. It's not the New year yet and you've just accepted my offer for a dance. On an ordinary day a dance would be a date." Jack argued, a smile sitting comfortably on his face.

"But this is no ordinary day." Anna argued back.

"Okay, instead of arguing about a bet, how about we just enjoy ourselves?" Jack asked sincerely.

Anna nodded and continued dancing with Jack. They danced together until the music was turned down and a countdown from twenty began. 20... 19... 18... 17.

Spock stood in the corner of the room with the logical lad that Jack had pointed out. He must admit he preferred this logical lad's company than anybody else in the room. Everybody apart from himself, the logical lad, Anna and possibly Jack were inebriated from Alcohol. He hadn't been very good company himself. He'd spent the entire time watching Anna and Jack. He couldn't help but imagine himself in Jack's place. It being him that held Anna so close to himself. He would of course deny it but he was jealous.

... 16... 15... 14... 13... 12... 11... 10.

Anna held her breath as the countdown lowered down to ten. She and Jack were still flushed up against each other as they had been when they had been dancing. She had her arms around his neck and he had his around her waist. They were looking into each others eyes. Jack's eyes seemed to flash with determination and hope of something. She just had no idea as to what.

"9... 8... 7... 6... 5..." Jack whispered the final ten in her ear, lowly and seductively.

She knew he was seducing her into his trap and she knew she was falling for it. He had been trying since they'd first met to get her on a date or for a kiss and now she knew that she was failing in saying No.

"4... 3... 2... 1..." Jack continued to whisper.

He didn't speak the words that Anna had been preparing to say, 'Happy New Year'. Instead he had leant down and pressed his lips to hers. Gently at first but then slowly increasing in passion.

Spock stood awkwardly at his table. He could feel a churning in his gut at the sight of Anna and Jack, locked so passionately in a human kiss. He could feel a bitter disappointment that it hadn't been him but then he thought about it. He knew that Anna was popular amongst the other members of Starfleet. She was beautiful, kind and smart. Everybody wanted her. How could think that she would be interested in him? That was the question he asked himself as he squeezed his way through the other party goers and out of the dorm room.

Anna pulled away from Jack a few minutes later. She needed to breath.

"So, about that date?" Jack asked, causing Anna to smile and slightly laugh.

She nodded, "Alright. How about next week. Thursday. Pick me up at seven."

He nodded and winked. "Alright. Wear something nice but casual."

Anna nodded before glancing around, looking for her friend, Spock. She couldn't see him. She could see the lad that Spock had gone to talk to. She excused herself from Jack. He protested but one glance at her serious face shut him up. She walked to the lad that Spock had been speaking too.

"Excuse me, where did Spock go?" Anna asked the lad.

"He left. Not long after you kissed Romeo over there." the lad replied smartly, nodding towards the dorm room door.

Anna nodded her head in thanks before making her way to the dorm room door herself. She disappeared out of it and immediately headed for her own dorm room.

When she arrived she was surprised to see the lights out and Spock in his bed, asleep. It wasn't often that Anna would be awake and Spock wouldn't. She creped in. Trying to make as little noise as possible. She changed into her pyjamas and washed the make-up off of her face in the bathroom before coming back into the main part of the dorm room.

Spock was still sleeping. Anna couldn't help but stop and stare for a moment. She couldn't deny and never had denied that Spock was handsome. He was ridiculously handsome. When she'd first met him she had harboured such a crush on him, but it soon came apparent to her that he would never be with an illogical being like her so she counted her loses and tried to move on. But then recently he had been acting different. He'd been attentive to her, doing what she wanted to do, admitting that he cared for her in some way and saying she looked beautiful. It was playing with her head and heart.

She wondered whether Spock had seen her with Jack? Had he cared or been jealous? She didn't know whether she really wanted to know.

She wasn't quite sure why she had kissed Jack back when he had kissed her. Did she like him?

Her mind whirled with questions that night, leaving her very restless but what she did know was that she was going on a date with Jack and she still held some sort of attraction to Spock. Oh god help me, she prayed to herself.


End file.
